A Series of Bizarre and Mildly Humourous Events
by lunartick
Summary: Sequel to A Series of Beautiful Contradictions. Getting back his Nen shouldn't be THIS difficult... KuroOC. Rated M for violence and scandalous situations. Chapt 3 Reposted: Trivial edited.
1. Snippets of a Very Long Night

A/N: This story is a sequel to A Series of Beautiful Contradictions. If you want to understand Kuroro's relationship with Midoya, you will have to read that first. Also, this story is rated M for adult themes. Lastly, the opinions of the characters do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the author.

Thank you to all the readers who read and enjoyed A Series of Beautiful Contradictions. I hope you enjoy the sequel as much, though the writing style differs from the first story, due to the nature/genre differences. Please enjoy!

I do not own Hunter X Hunter or any other mentioned literature/books in this story. 

* * *

><p>Prologue: Snippets of a Very Long Night<p>

Kuroro Lucifer had been too careless. One moment, he had been standing in the hotel, eyeing two suspicious kids and wondering when he would get a chance to eat dinner. The next, he had been blinded, tied up and throw into the backseat of a car that smelled of fear, anger and old socks. It was the first big disaster to occur since the Kito mansion incident two years ago, but all things considered, it could have been worse. He could have been sitting next to the ugly man in the driver's seat instead of the relatively less ugly young lady currently holding him with chains.

Subtly, Kuroro tested the chains around him, first with Nen and then with his own physical strength. None worked. He could not even expand his aura, and his physical strength was by no means terribly impressive. For the first time in a long while, Kuroro was trapped with almost no hope of getting himself out of the situation.

Well, well, well.

He felt eyes on him but ignored them, choosing instead to stare at the young woman next to him. She in turn ignored him. There was something ironically karmaic about the situation.

"Don't worry," the young woman suddenly said, in response to the nervousness radiating from the driver. "Some of their members are injured; they will not come after us so quickly."

Oh, they've better. This was their chance to get the chain-guy. Besides, Kuroro didn't like being tied up. The faster he got out of this, dead or alive, the better. Kuroro glanced at the young woman. Oops. Chain-girl. Oh no, wait. It should be chain-_woman_. Machi had pounded that into him frequently and he respected her superior arm-strength enough to abide by her demands.

"What are you looking at?" the chain-woman demanded coldly.

"Nothing," Kuroro replied calmly. "I just never thought the chain-guy was actually a woman." Be proud, Machi.

"Did I ever say I am a woman?" the chain-woman said sharply, pulling the wig off her head. "Do not judge people so easily by their appearances."

Oh. It's not chain-woman either. It's chain-transvestite. Kuroro fought the smile that threatened to appear on his face and tried to pay attention to what the chain-t… chain-guy… chain-person was saying. It had been a while since his life was in such immediate danger; it was making him feel a little bit giddy with excitement.

"Be careful of what you say," the chain-person was saying. "Your next words could be your last."

"You wouldn't kill me," Kuroro replied with great certainty. "Your friends are still with my Ryodan. They are important to you."

"Do not provoke me," the chain-person grinded out through gritted teeth. "I am not able to remain calm now."

"Kurapika!" the ugly driver protested. "Calm down!"

Ah. A name. Hot-headed despite his cool, rational appearance. This could be made use of. If Kuroro died, the Ryodan would not hesitate to move against him. This was their chance. "The girl's prediction did not mention this," Kuroro said, smiling coldly. "If I did not need to be warned then this event must be so insignificant there was no need to warn me at all."

The chain-person's eyes widened in fury and Kuroro smiled to himself. He had pricked the inner caveman. "You are the 'hot old guy' Miss Neon was talking about!" the chain-person snarled, eyes blazing. "You are the one who used her to access the auction! Despicable! Using a young girl like that!"

Hot, _old_ guy. Huh. Well, to a young teenager like the Nostrad girl, maybe. "Yes," Kuroro said, smiling blandly. "Young, sheltered girls like her are the best type of prey."

For a moment, he was convinced the chain-person was going to hit him. Instead, the wild-eyed teen inhaled deeply then exhaled slowly. He wasn't going to take the bait. Aww. Kuroro needed to try harder, it seemed.

"Where is your phone?" the chain-person asked coldly.

Kuroro pursed his lips in thought. Another chance to push the chain-guy's buttons. "Why should I tell you?" he asked, smiling faintly.

Yet again, the eyes widened in anger and Kuroro braced himself for a blow. None came. Instead the chain-person snarled, "Tell me or I will hurt you." The chains around him jerked violently and it hurt – a lot. That wasn't enough to deter someone as stubborn as Kuroro Lucifer though. How else did he get hot-heads like Phinx and Nobunaga to start addressing him as "Dancho" in the first place? Certainly not through gentle pleas and polite requests.

Kuroro smiled and shook his head. The chain-person's Nen flared but he remained sitting still, glaring at Kuroro. Okay… he needed to push this a little. "Why don't you try looking for it yourself?" he suggested, still smiling the smile of a dead shark. "A little independence will do you good. You can't rely on your friends forever, boy. Friends die so easily."

With a snarl, the chain-person moved towards Kuroro and the driver cried, "Kurapika!" in alarm. However, the chain-person merely plunged his hand into Kuroro's pants pocket. Kuroro smiled calmly through the awkward experience of having another man (and a much younger man at that) grope through his clothes. It was easier than expected; he simply imagined the chain-person with breasts.

Finally, with a furious and somewhat embarrassed expression on his face, the chain-person yanked Kuroro's phone out of his coat's inner pocket and started to flip through the Contacts. After a few seconds, he growled, "I am going to call a Ryodan member. Give me a name."

Yet another chance to drive the chain-person over the edge. How delightful. "You already have one: Kurapika," Kuroro said cheerfully.

The chain-person turned wild eyes on him. "What did you say?" he asked, his voice low and threatening.

"Oh, you meant a Ryodan member's name," Kuroro said, projecting unconvincing surprise. "Your syntax is terrible. You may be a mafia thug, but surely there is no need for you to speak like one." The chains around him suddenly tightened and took his breath away.

"Kurapika!" the driver shouted again, as the short woman in front exclaimed, "No! Don't! It's a trap! If you kill him, we wouldn't be able to get Gon and Killua back!"

"I know!" the chain-person shouted. "I know that!" The chains loosened and Kuroro leaned back, trying to catch his breath. As he breathed deeply, he listened to the chain-person randomly dial a number and start rattling off instructions to the Ryodan. He could already imagine the fights the instructions were going to cause.

This was going to be a very long night.

* * *

><p>A few hours later, Kuroro found himself standing untied in the airship, waiting to be 'exchanged'. Paku had betrayed the Ryodan for him. He didn't know how he felt about that just yet, so he put it out of his mind. Instead, he touched his bruised face, the result of not just pricking the chain-person's inner caveman, but peeing all over its territory, flinging manure at it and then running off with its woman. Prodding gently at his cheekbones, he could already tell that it was going to bruise terribly. He might have to walk around wearing bandages all the time which would just be plain unpleasant. Bandages always gave him rash. Well, on the bright side, at least he definitely knew how he felt about his injured face.<p>

"We are ready to touch down," a feminine voice said softly, a distance away. Kuroro glanced at the short, ugly woman standing next to the chain-person. Her eyes darted to him, sensing his gaze. He smiled at her, a cold yet friendly smile, and she looked away immediately, alarmed. The chain-person evidently noticed the exchange because he glared at Kuroro.

"What do you want now?" he snarled, red eyes blazing.

"I want to a syringe of morphine and a warm bed to sleep in, but that doesn't seem likely to happen" Kuroro replied, smiling humourlessly. "I would settle for a cup of tea."

"A drug addict," the chain-person sneered hatefully. "I would have expected nothing less from a Spider."

Kuroro's smile widened fractionally. Did the chain-person really think that was insulting? Kuroro was a citizen of Meteor City, the lowest of scums; he could make such criminals look like saints. Really now, moralistic people were just too _adorable_.

He saw when the chain-person noticed his amusement, but before anymore bruising could occur, the airship touched down. The chain-person's eyes flickered to the ground below and then back to Kuroro. Yet again, he could see the chain-person contemplating socking him one, just for the principle of it. Finally, the chain-person shrugged angrily and said, "Move if you want your freedom."

"But of course. Who wouldn't?" Kuroro replied wryly and moved to join the progression.

Hopefully this long night was about to end.

* * *

><p>Apparently not.<p>

Kuroro eyed Hisoka as the deranged clown started rambling about wanting to kill him. Things were going to get messy. He could not explain his situation to Hisoka; communication with a Ryodan member would get him killed. He could only hope that he could last long enough for Hisoka to realize that he was not a worthy opponent at the moment. Knowing Hisoka, once he realized he could not use his Nen, he would surely…

"When I tricked you into thinking I joined the Ryodan…"

Kuroro blinked. Did Hisoka just…?

Spinning around melodramatically, Hisoka reached behind and plucked the tattoo off. "There," Hisoka purred. "Now this is no longer a fight between comrades. Now you can fight freely. Come for me, Kuroro! _Come for me_!"

Hmm. That was marginally more awkward than having the chain-person groping through his pants. Well, when in doubt, smile. "Ah, excellent," Kuroro said genially, smiling. "Since you are not a Ryodan member, I can tell you." Watching Hisoka's face drop was somewhat entertaining.

Then Hisoka's face hardened again. "Are you trying to tease me? Or buy time to steal my nen ability?" Hisoka demanded. Okay. Things were not going well again. "Don't waste my time! I don't have time for jokes! The magical ability of stealing Nen, the ability that only you possess! Yes! You! You, my special one, are my target!" Hisoka's hips thrust forward in anticipation.

That was _a lot_ more awkward than having the chain-person groping through his pants.

Then suddenly, a card was flying straight at his face. Kuroro didn't even have time to blink before it stopped short of him, fluttering away into the wind. His poker face stayed on as Hisoka turned around and mournfully tossed his cards to the wind.

"You are worthless to me now," Hisoka said sadly. "It would have been fun too, and now it's over." He turned and walked away without looking back.

Finally, Kuroro remembered to breathe again. "Don't bother waiting for me," he said, his voice calm and even. Hisoka wriggled his fingers, both in acknowledgement and in farewell, and stepped into the airship.

Kuroro watched the airship leave, taking off into the night sky. Closing his eyes, he felt the night wind brush against him, as he planned his next step. He stood absolutely still, resting his body as his mind worked furiously. An hour passed, and Kuroro finally opened his eyes and turned towards the rising sun. That would be where he finds his new comrade.

Slowly, he walked towards the edge of the plateau, eyes still fixed on the rising sun. "To the East," he murmured.

Then he realized with a shock that without his Nen, he had no way of jumping off the plateau.

* * *

><p>Living without his Nen was going to take some getting used to, evidently. Silently fuming, Kuroro whipped out his phone that he had liberated from the pocket of the chain-person (hey two can play the same trick) and looked at it for a while. He did not have many contacts; there had never been a need to collect new comrades. The Spiders had an expert on every single subject any good bandit organization needed to know. Now that he was separated from his limbs, he was not sure who he could reach out to. He could call Hisoka and get him to turn back the air ship, but it was likely Hisoka would ignore his call, having deemed him 'broken' and 'useless'.<p>

Grimacing, Kuroro opened the Contacts on his phone and started to flip through it. Who could he call? Who… oh. He stared at the name. He hadn't thought of _her_ in a while, had never thought of contacting her. It just seemed polite to leave her alone, given how he had almost killed her. Periodically, he heard about her through the Hunter website, but he never bothered to actively keep track of her. He wasn't even sure if she was still in York Shin. Giving her unpredictable temperament, it was just as likely she had decided to join a nudist colony on a whim.

Well, he was not exactly bursting with options.

Kuroro raised the phone to his ear, listening to it ring. He waited patiently; it was still early in York Shin, and if she was there she was most likely still asleep.

"_Hello."_ Ah, he hasn't heard that voice in a while.

"Hello Midoya."

"_What is it?"_ She didn't sound surprise, just sleepy. He could picture her sprawled on her perpetually unmade bed, eyes half-closed and hair spilling about in messy curls.

"An emergency."

"_Ah."_ She still remembered.

"I am in the desert near York Shin." Kuroro bit down on his pride. "Stuck on top of a plateau as a matter of fact."

"_Okay."_ Oh yes; he remembered now. This was the woman who could accept the most absurd and bizarre of explanations without even blinking.

"You will come?" He merely wanted to confirm her impending arrival. In no way did he sound like he was begging.

"_But of course_." He could hear the smile in her voice, the lazy, confident smile that she often wore. He found himself smiling in response.

"Excellent. Goodnight, Midoya. See you soon."

"_See you soon, Kuroro." _

And soon it was. Within half an hour of hanging up on her, Kuroro looked up to see a blimp moving in his general direction. He peered at it as best as he could in the light of dawn. It looked like an unmarked blimp, probably a private blimp then. Midoya _was_ Midoya June Kito after all, heiress to a fortune and owner of most of the tasteful establishments in the red-light district of York Shin; she probably had a whole fleet of them at her disposal.

Briefly, Kuroro considered waving his arms to attract the attention of the blimp, but decided against it. A lone man in a fur coat standing in a desert was probably distinctive enough. Besides, he did not want to damage his pride any further by jumping up and down like a little kid.

Sure enough, the blimp started to slow down as it approached him. Hooks erupted from the sides of the blimp and brought it down. As soon as it touched down, a short flight of stairs descended and Midoya exited the blimp, heading straight for him.

She looked just how he remembered her; short and plump, with pleasant curves that were more matronly than bombshell babe. Her hair was still a messy pile of wild curls that tended to fall over her calm, cool black eyes. Her skin still looked pale and delicate, and was still largely marred by near-disfiguring acne and battle scars. She still moved with the grace and alertness of an apex predator, her entire being radiating the confidence of someone at the very top of the food chain.

When she was near enough, a friendly smile lit up her face. "Kuroro," she said pleasantly, as if they had just happened to meet by chance at a café.

"Midoya," he replied just as warmly with a nod. "Thank you for coming. You look good."

"Not a problem," Midoya said, smiling. "You look terrible."

"I normally look like this without makeup on," he replied in a solemn voice and she laughed. Her eyes were painted a vivid lime green and her lips were a bright orange. Somehow, she made the colours look aesthetically pleasing on her face.

"If it's just your face, I wouldn't have said a thing," Midoya finally said, smiling wryly. "Your Nen is a mess." She leaned closer and peered at him, her eyes glowing with Gyo. "In fact, it's so messy it doesn't exist anymore. Your Nen got sealed? No, more like, it has been overwhelmed by someone else's Nen. My goodness, someone is using Nen to control you. Should I be worried about you attacking me and restrain you until you explain yourself?"

"No, goodness, no. Not necessary," Kuroro said, feeling both alarmed and somewhat relieved at the same time. At the very least, it would not take him long to explain the situation to Midoya; the woman was sharp enough to understand it quickly. He gave her a quick rundown of the situation, starting with Ubogin's capture and culminating in his almost-fight with Hisoka. Midoya nodded at key points, but did not interrupt him.

When he finished, the first thing she said was, "You said his name is Kurapika? A surviving member of the Kuruta tribe?" No condolences for the dead Spider, for which Kuroro was immensely grateful.

"Yes. Why?"

"Netero mentioned him before," Midoya said. "Praised his intellect and talent as a fighter. I know about the two kids you mentioned too. Gon Freecs and Killua Zoldyck. They took part in the most recent Hunter Exam. At least you did not run into the older Zoldycks. That would have been disastrous." She paused then added, "But of course you _did_ run into the older Zoldycks and it would have been disastrous if you hadn't run into another one of the older Zoldycks previously and hired him to kill the Ten Godfathers. Your life is so complicated, Kuroro."

"Oh," Kuroro said, feeling somewhat miffed. If he had remained in contact with Midoya, they would have been able to learn about the chain-person much earlier.

"So," Midoya went on, hands in the pockets of her black pants. "What do you need from me, Kuroro?"

"Help," he said immediately. "I can pay you for it."

"Help? That's rather vague."

"I only have a vague idea of how I want to make use of your talents," Kuroro informed her.

Midoya smiled back. "Interesting. Well then," she said agreeably. "Let's start by patching you up. Hope on my blimp, handsome." She winked at him and started back for the blimp. Kuroro followed, a smile on his face.

"My pleasure."

* * *

><p><span>AN: This prologue is only the beginning of a fairly long adventure! Things should get better as the story picks up! Read and Review!

Trivial: Midoya does own a fleet of blimps. She once used it to take over a small country. It was very exciting.


	2. Gathering of New Companions

A/N: This story is rated M for adult themes. The opinions of the characters do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the author.

Thank you to all those who have read (and reviewed) this story!

I do not own Hunter X Hunter or any other mentioned literature/books in this story. 

* * *

><p><span>Gathering New Companions <span>

The living quarters of the blimp were luxurious and messy, richly decorated and disorganized at the same time. Kuroro looked around at the couches with plush cushions, the exquisitely carved redwood tables and the gold-plated chandeliers, and had to suppress the urge to steal something. That was easily done; he simply reminded himself that there was no way he was carrying that beautiful statue of Venus off the blimp without Midoya noticing. Underneath his desire to walk off with some of the more priced decorative pieces, Kuroro was impressed with the state of disorganization on the blimp. It wasn't as messy as her York Shin penthouse (a pile of clothing lay in a corner with a box of make-up, and paper was scattered over the largest table), but Kuroro was willing to bet that after Midoya had been here for a few more hours, the cushions would be on the floor and books would be scattered everywhere.

"Have a seat. Just kick the books off the couch," Midoya was saying as she rummaged through one of the shelves. "Where on earth is my first-aid kit?" she added to herself.

Kuroro respectfully placed the books on the floor, sank gratefully into one of the velvet couches and watched her fumble through the shelves. He was very used to seeing Midoya during her idle moments. He had never seen her working before save the one time when he had tried to get her killed (it was a long story that involved a long series of truces, betrayals, misunderstandings and hidden identities; almost a soap opera really). Watching her move now, she looked more like a snake than a leopard as she darted from place to place rapidly, searching for her objective. Eventually she found the first-aid box in the dishwasher. "Well done," Kuroro told her wryly as she raised the white box triumphantly.

She beamed at him and put the box on the table before him, and started to pull out gauze and antiseptic. "Your face looks real bad, but it's not as bad as your nose," she commented. "Your nose is broken." Before Kuroro could comment, she reached out and yanked his nose back into place. Kuroro squeezed his eyes shut and clamped down on the pained cry that almost escaped his lips.

When he could breathe again, he opened his eyes and realized she was busy cleaning and taping up the cuts on his face. "Thank you," he mumbled in a hoarse voice.

"You're welcome," she replied warmly, pressing a cold compress onto his swollen cheeks. "Dear me, this Kurapika really did a number on your face. Look, your face is so swollen!" She poked one of the bumps with her finger and Kuroro winced again.

"I realized," he said, annoyed. It was an unusual reaction from him, but the past sixteen hours have been rather taxing on him. It certainly didn't help that Midoya was obviously highly amused by his current predicament.

Midoya smiled at his reaction and added, "You look bad with your hair slicked back. Why do you do it? You used to just leave your bangs down."

"People take me more seriously when I slick my hair back. Apparently I look too 'cute' with bangs," Kuroro replied (of course it had to be _Hisoka_ who told him that). Then just because he didn't want to be the only one put on the spot, he asked, "Who is flying the blimp?"

"Auto-pilot."

"Is that safe?" Kuroro asked curiously. He had never had to pilot a blimp personally, and knew little about the actual practicalities of flying a blimp.

"My auto-pilot is a much better pilot than I am."

"Really? It is hard to imagine you as a terrible pilot."

"The last time I flew a blimp by myself, I unintentionally caused a war between two countries. It was all resolved eventually, but not before the mass extinction of the _Junpies_ primates and the impregnation of a chamber maid by a prince."

"Oh." Kuroro thought about that for a while then decided not to worry about it too much. His life was already in danger anyway. That the most reliable pilot on the blimp was a computer wasn't really that high on his current list of things that could kill him in spectacularly messy ways. Idly, he wondered how it would feel like to be trapped in a burning blimp as it plummeted ten thousand feet to the grounds below. Quite warm, he supposed.

He watched Midoya for a moment as she fussed over his face and started to wonder if he had made the right choice calling her. It really depended on who he had summoned to his aid, he realized. Was this Midoya, the wonderfully complicated and unpredictable Midoya who had offered her couch to a strange man on a whim, or was this Blacklist Hunter Midoya, one of the most powerful hunters in the world? Would she fly him to safety or would she deliver him to the Hunter's Association for a huge bounty? Or was this June Kito standing before him, the rich heiress with strong connections to the mafia? Would he then end up being delivered to the mafia instead?

Kuroro snapped out of his thoughts suddenly when he realized she was looking at him with an odd look on her face.

"What?" he asked.

"You look like you don't trust me," she stated.

Kuroro looked at her. "No, I don't," he said honestly.

Midoya's smile widened. After living with her for slightly under a year, Kuroro had come to understand that Midoya was the type of person who smiled at everything: puppies, babies, flowers, mutilated, decaying corpses and so on. He had also come to recognize a number of her different smiles. The smile she gave him when she stated that he did not trust her was her 'amused and indulgent' smile. The smile she wore when she informed him about the capability of her autopilot in relation to hers was her 'oh well I know I'm not perfect but there's nothing to worry about because we invented an awesome machine that can be perfect for me' smile. The smile she was giving him now, however, was the one that he dreaded the most. It was her 'you just pissed me off somehow though you probably don't know why, but no matter, I am going to screw you over so hard you wouldn't be able to stand straight for a month' smile.

"It's not that I don't believe you are a highly talented Nen-master fully capable of protecting both you and I should the blimp crash," Kuroro said in a placating tone. "It is simply that having not kept in touch for two years…"

"Thirty billion zennis," Midoya said firmly, her arms crossed in front of her.

"Thirty… what?" Kuroro asked, bewildered by the sudden change in topic.

"That is my fee for helping you," Midoya said in a brisk, business-like tone. "Thirty billion zennis a week, not including extra expenditure."

Kuroro blinked. "That is a very… exorbitant price," he finally said. "Ten billion zennis a week, including extra expenditure."

Midoya's smile widened even more and Kuroro forced himself not to rub the bridge of his broken nose in frustration. That was her 'I know you need me more than I need you so let's stop beating around the bush and do things the way I want them' smile. "You are hiring a professional Two Star Blacklist Hunter, Kuroro Lucifer," she said smugly. "Thirty billion zennis a week, including extra expenditure."

Kuroro clasped his hands to his lips in thought as he eyed Midoya. "Twenty billion zennis a week, not including extra expenditure," he said finally.

"Deal," Midoya grinned and pumped his hand in a brisk handshake. "Hope we have a wonderful working relationship, Mr Lucifer. And just a reminder; don't try to backstab me or wriggle out of paying me. I will be forced to kill you. Nothing personal, mind, it's just good business."

"But of course," Kuroro agreed, still feeling bemused by her sudden change in attitude towards him.

"Good," Midoya said and turned to leave.

"Where are you going?" Kuroro asked.

"To check on the autopilot," Midoya replied cheerfully. Pausing at the door, she looked over her shoulder at him and smiled suddenly. It was, oddly enough, a smile he did not recognize. Without saying anything else, she stepped out of the door, leaving it to swing shut on its own.

Kuroro stared at the door for a moment then turned his gaze to his feet (covered with mud and his own blood). It seemed he had summoned Blacklist Hunter Midoya to his aid. How that was going to turn out, he really did not know. Well, even if he had made the wrong choice calling her, this was definitely still going to be a very entertaining working relationship.

* * *

><p>Fifteen minutes later found them sitting in a companionable silence, Midoya had returned from the cockpit ("The autopilot is doing what autopilots do, and it is doing it particularly well without my intervention. Let's eat something.") and was currently nestling in the couch opposite him. Kuroro wondered why she hadn't joined him on the couch he was on. The blood, mud and perspiration on his clothes must be a lot more off-putting than he realized.<p>

The silence was broken when Midoya shifted in her seat to look at him. "What are your plans?" she asked casually, sipping hot tea. "I assume we are not going to just keep flying around aimlessly?"

"No," Kuroro agreed. He leaned his elbows on his knees and clasped his hands together in thought. "My first priority," he finally said, "is getting my Nen back. My second, assuming my first fails, is to reestablish contact with the Genei Ryodan, but in a way that wouldn't violate the restrictions placed on me."

"Jyonen."

"Exactly. The prophecy I had, written by Neon Nostrad said that I will find new companions in the east. I believe that refers to someone who can release me from the Judgment Chain." Kuroro rubbed his chin then regretted it when he tore open a tiny cut on his face. "I just don't know where in the 'East' this Jyonen-user is."

"Mmmm," Midoya said in acknowledgement, handing him a piece of tissue. "How are you going to contact the Genei Ryodan if you can't find the Jyonen-user?"

Still blotting blood off his face, Kuroro frowned in thought. "It depends on what the restrictions include," he said slowly. "The restrictions placed on me stated that I must not have any verbal or physical communication with the Ryodan. However, to what extent do the restrictions cover? For example, if I ask you to call the Ryodan for me, is it considered verbal communication? It is safer to assume that a person is considered a medium of communication as much as a text message or email is. Hence, I can't tell someone to approach the Ryodan on my behalf."

"Agreed. So?"

"So, I need the Ryodan to approach someone who knows my intentions and who can direct the Ryodan on his or her own account without and instructions or communication from me," Kuroro concluded. "Therefore there is no communication between the Ryodan and me at all."

"Fascinating plan. Any idea how you're going to do that?"

Kuroro shook his head. "I don't have any idea of where I am going just yet. Contacting the Ryodan now would be pointless. I shall hunt for the Jyonen user first. If I can remove the restrictions without the Ryodan's help then the need to plan a meeting with the Ryodan becomes unnecessary."

"Hmm. Makes sense," Midoya agreed.

"What do you think?" Kuroro asked, turning to look at her. She looked back at him, her body languid and relaxed though her eyes were sharp and intense.

"I think you need more than my help," she said solemnly. Shifting in her seat, she clasped her hands around her knees and frowned. "Putting aside gaining contact with the Ryodan, you need two pieces of information to fulfill the first part of your plan. Firstly, you need a destination. Secondly, you need to find the Jyonen-user." She shifted position again and tilted her head in thought. Kuroro observed her with interest. He never knew the usually still and cool woman got so fidgety when on the job. "I think we should go back to York Shin first," she finally said. "Our first step is not action but information gathering. The young Nostrad's prophecies are unusually difficult to understand. I once paid her to do a prophecy for me out of curiosity. Only after the event did I realize that "do not chase the cat" literally meant "do not chase the cat" and was not a metaphor for something else, while "exercise regularly" _was_ a metaphor for killing lots of people and not literal advice for good health. Anyway, that is beside the point. Closer to the date, we might find more clues regarding the destination. In the meantime, what we can do is search for information on Jyonen-users."

"How?" Kuroro asked curiously.

"Jyonen is a very unusual and highly priced ability," Midoya said, sipping tea. "The Hunter's Association always tries to keep tabs on people who develop such abilities, unofficially of course. Not all Jyonen-users become Hunters, and not all of them advertise their abilities openly. Many would take issue with the Hunter's Association keeping tabs on them so we do it through hearsay and hush-hush investigations. Consequently, I believe there is a working database on Jyonen-users."

"Oh." Kuroro thought about it for a while. "And you can access that database?"

Midoya smiled. "Officially, only Netero and a few select information-gatherers can," she said. "Unofficially…" She shrugged. "Anything is possible, and that's where we need someone who knows a hell lot more about technology and stuff than I do."

Kuroro smiled back. Midoya _was_ worth the money he was paying her. "And that is a wonderful starting point for finding the destination," he said.

"Oh?"

"If Neon Nostrad's prophecy directed me towards the East, it means that the Jyonen-user best suited for my purposes, or perhaps most willing to assist me will be found in the East," Kuroro said. "If we can locate any Jyonen-users who practice East of York Shin…"

"We know where to go," Midoya finished his thoughts, a delighted smile on her face.

"Excellent." Kuroro leaned back into the couch, satisfied. "You said I need more than your help. I trust you have a candidate in mind?"

"But of course."

Out of the corner of his eye, Kuroro eyed the smile on Midoya's face. That was another smile he recognized. It was her 'I am going to do something that someone is really not going to like and it is going to be so fun' smile.

"Are you planning something evil, Midoya?" he asked, warily amused.

She looked at him, her eyes sparkling gleefully. "But of course, Kuroro. But of course."

* * *

><p>"Oh no. No, no, no, no, no, no. Midoya-sensei, you can't be <em>serious<em>!"

Standing outside the surprisingly clean and homely apartment, Kuroro eyed the tall, tanned man at the doorway and concurred with his sentiments.

Half an hour ago, they had landed successfully (and safely) in York Shin Airport. A black car had been waiting for them, courtesy of Midoya's status as June Kito, rich and powerful heiress to a major financial empire funded by the ownership of large portions of the red-light district in York shin. There had been no chauffeur. Evidently, Midoya did not want anyone seeing them together.

Fifteen minutes after Midoya started the car, Kuroro had suggested with great vehemence that they stop the car _immediately_ so Kuroro could do the driving. Midoya had then protested that she was a _much_ better driver than she was a pilot so there was absolutely no need to switch drivers especially since they were already on the high way. Kuroro then pointed out that the problem was not Midoya's skills as a driver, since she was a fairly decent driver; the problem was her supreme disregard for all traffic rules, which in the busy streets of York Shin City meant a string of damaged cars, explosions and possibly dead people behind them. After a brief discussion, during which Kuroro pointed out that they would reach their destination (wherever it was) much faster if they didn't keep getting stopped by the police, Midoya had reluctantly handed the wheel over to him.

Kuroro, as he slid behind the wheel, mused idly that if he, Dancho of the Genei Ryodan, had to tell someone to obey the laws of society, something was _very wrong_.

Another fifteen minutes later, Kuroro found himself standing outside a beautiful block of apartments. The walls were painted a soft, creamy colour; the roof tiles were a pretty maroon colour; vines of some form of flower crept up walls and around balconies. It looked wonderfully cozy and peaceful, and gave Kuroro the sudden, almost irrepressible desire to vandalize the walls. He didn't, only because vandalizing property is a childish crime he hadn't indulged in since he hit puberty.

Midoya had led him to an apartment on the third floor and rang the doorbell. Instantly, the door had opened, bringing with it the waft of spices, meat and one Pepeka Timbal.

Pepeka Timbal (tall, tanned and handsome with bulging muscles and perfect teeth) was Midoya's apprentice, fan and secret admirer. For that reason, he disliked Kuroro immensely. Kuroro disliked him back. It only seemed polite.

The moment Pepeka Timbal had caught sight of Midoya, his eyes had lit up in delight. Then he had caught sight of Kuroro. That was when the tragic wail of, "No, no, no, no, no. Midoya-sensei, you can't be serious" had echoed through the apartment.

"Pepeka, nice to see you too," Midoya replied, obviously tickled by his reaction.

"Sensei!" Pepeka moaned, huge hands clutching at short, blonde hair agitatedly. "I thought you broke up with him already! What he is doing here?"

"He called me for help," Midoya said with a shrug.

"But _sensei_!" Pepeka whined. "He's the Dancho of the Genei Ryodan! And don't pretend he's not! His dead, bloody face was pasted all over the Net for a period of time! I recognized him even without a jaw!"

"Given that, you don't seem surprise to see me alive," Kuroro said wryly.

"Of course," Pepeka said sharply, glaring at Kuroro. "People in the blacklist hunting industry knew the corpses were fakes after a while. Bloody things vanished into thin air from the morgue. Poor mortician witnessed it and got the shock of his life. I mean, that guy's pushing ninety! That mean trick of yours almost put him in a coffin!"

"Right," Kuroro said, amused. "I apologize for failing to take into account the advanced age of the mortician when my Ryodan and I robbed the underground auctions."

"And your face still looks like shit."

"Pepeka," Midoya admonished.

Pepeka bristled with righteous indignation and turned back to Midoya. "Sensei! You can't seriously be helping him! He's evil! I mean… he _kills_ people!"

"I also donate to charity," Kuroro pointed out.

"That's not the point!" Pepeka roared then lowered his voice embarrassedly when Midoya made shushing sounds. "That's not the point," he repeated in a much softer voice. "The point is, he's a criminal, sensei! What would the other Hunters think if they knew you were helping him?"

"Pepeka, the other Hunters are not supposed to know that I am helping him," Midoya said, smiling widely. "Besides, _I_ am on the black list too." Kuroro raised an eyebrow. He hadn't known that.

"That's different!" Pepeka spluttered. "I mean… that guy! The president of BNE! I mean… do you know what he tried to do to Midoya-sensei?

"No," Kuroro said, though he could guess. The President of the BNE country was constantly being slammed (and acquitted, by virtue of a large bank account) with several charges of sexual harassment towards women.

Pepeka leaned closer, hostility temporarily forgotten in the face of a more abhorred foe. "He tried to _marry_ Midoya-sensei," he hissed, his eyes wide with disbelief and disgust.

Kuroro blinked. "That… wasn't quite what I imagined happened," he confessed. "My imagination ran more along the lines of… rape, molest and general misogyny."

"You are correct," Midoya said dryly. "The dear President first tried to force me into a marriage with him. Failing that, he tried to rape me. I fear I took particular offence with his advances, not least because he is fat, balding and smells like a wet dog."

"And what did you do to him that put you on the black list?" Kuroro asked, curiously. Smiling, Midoya leaned closer and whispered into his ear. Kuroro blinked again. "Oh," he said and then because there were some things even the Ryodan found too horrifying to comprehend, "Ouch." A pause, and then he added, "I had heard that you are also next in line to succeed Netero."

"Yes," Midoya agreed. "Not necessarily next in line, but one of the potential candidates for succeeding Netero."

"Oh."

A pensive silence fell over the trio before Pepeka broke it by saying stubbornly, "I'm still not letting that criminal into my house."

"Pepeka."

"No sensei! This is my house!"

"Pepeka."

"I decide who gets to come in!"

"Pepeka."

"And he's not one of those!"

"Pepeka."

Pepeka finally looked at Midoya. She looked straight at Pepeka and smiled. She had dimples. Kuroro was certain she didn't have dimples naturally, but she had somehow produced them from nowhere.

Pepeka shook his head violently. Perspiration dripped down his face. "No! I'm not falling for that one again! You can't change my mind, sensei!" he shouted firmly. "I am not allowing him in and _that is final_!"

* * *

><p>Kuroro sank back into the cream-coloured couch. It was amazingly comfortable, as comfortable as Midoya's orange couch, but infinitely more tasteful. A glass of something cold was thrust into his hands violently and Kuroro accepted it with a smile. "Thank you Pepeka," he said sunnily. "It was very kind of you to invite us into your house."<p>

"I am only doing this for Midoya-sensei," Pepeka said in a tone of grievous injury.

"But of course," Kuroro agreed. He did not mind being polite to the young man. Not only had Midoya convinced him to let them into her apartment, she had gotten him to provide them with drinks and fresh clothing for Kuroro. She had done enough bullying for the both of them, he felt.

"Oh Pepeka!" Midoya called from the doorway of the kitchen. "I raided your fridge, hope you don't mind. And please wash Kuroro's clothing for him. I'm sure he appreciates the fresh clothing but it looks absolutely _wrong_ on him."

Hmm. Guess she didn't feel the same way he did.

Pepeka made a sound somewhere in between a whine and a growl, but started for the laundry area without another word. Kuroro shook his head. He could see why Midoya had come to Pepeka for help. As useless and as annoying as he was, Pepeka was such a pushover she could get him to fight to the death for the lowest scum of the earth if she wanted to. This type of 'help' would be commonly referred to as 'gun fodder' he believed. It was just, at this point, they needed help that could deliver, not a meat shield.

"You are cruel," Kuroro told Midoya as he accepted an apple from her.

"It is a necessity. I can see down your shirt and it is extremely distracting." She smiled at him and wandered over to the window where she perched on the ledge.

Kuroro looked down at the clothing he was wearing. It wasn't that Pepeka's taste in clothing was horrid. It _was_ a little on the plain side for Kuroro, but that hardly counted as a disaster. What was devastating, according to Midoya, was that they were about three sizes too big for Kuroro. It made for a breeze in very private places. Kuroro didn't mind; he never really liked wearing shirts anyway, horribly restricting things that they were.

"You could do the laundry yourself," he suggested tentatively. He wondered why she was sitting so far away (he was no longer covered with blood, mud and sweat…). As friendly and as, dare he say, flirty as she was being, there seemed to be a distance between them that hadn't existed before.

"Why would I take the trouble of training an apprentice if he's not going to do my laundry for me?" Midoya asked, her voice brimming with amusement.

"Aren't you shy about him shifting through your underwear?" Kuroro asked, peeling the apple with a small blade he kept for such purposes. (Once he confused it with his _other_ blade. That made for some interesting time spent in the bathroom.)

"Hardly. Back then, I assumed Pepeka wasn't a virgin and was somewhat familiar with the mysteries of feminine underclothing." Midoya paused and rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "Turns out I was wrong, but by then the dear boy had already gotten used to it."

Kuroro smiled around a sip of what turned out to be a delightfully refreshing drink of lime and mint. "Cruel," he informed her. "Absolutely cruel."

The sound of the washing machine starting up stopped their conversation and Pepeka came stomping back, his face red and sweaty with fury. "Should be done in an hour or so," he said sulkily.

"Thank you, dear. You are such a sweetheart."

Pepeka's face flushed with pleasure and embarrassment. "_Sensei_," he whined as he snuck a look at Kuroro to gauge his reaction. Kuroro kept his face blank. It flustered Pepeka even more.

"Anyway," Pepeka said, trying to regain his composure. "I assume you didn't just turn up here so I can feed and clothe your… I mean… this… Spider?" He looked almost hopeful.

"Of course not," Midoya said.

"Oh goodie."

"I also want you to hack into the Hunter's Association secret database on Jyonen-users."

"WHAT?" Pepeka's eyes looked like they were going to bulge out of their sockets. "Sensei! The penalty for doing that is _death_! Are you insane?"

"Oh, don't be a wimp Pepeka," Midoya said dismissively. "We risk our lives every time we start on the trail of a bounty. You can't be telling me you're _afraid_ of dying!"

"I'm not!" Pepeka exploded. "But this is different! You're asking me to go against _Chairman Netero_!"

"Oh." Midoya winced. "Yeah, I guess you have a point." Kuroro glanced at her questioningly and she replied, "Think of Zeno from the Zoldycks. You've met him, right? Well, imagine a man as powerful as Zeno but _a lot more evil_."

"Oh." It was Kuroro's turn to wince. "I see."

"But," Midoya went on, cheering up. "As long as Netero never finds out, it doesn't matter!"

"He will find out!" Pepeka wailed. "He has eyes everywhere! We're going to die, sensei! We're going to die because… because…" He trailed off confusedly. "Wait, why are we hacking into the database for anyway?"

"It's a long story," Midoya told him. "In summary, Kuroro killed a bunch of people because they had pretty eyes, and one of them who happily did not die is out to kill him. Things happened, people got robbed and murdered, not necessarily in that order either, and Kuroro ended up kidnapping two beautiful, luscious boys…"

"Goodness, Midoya," Kuroro said mildly. "They were in no way beautiful or luscious and I did not kidnap them. They were following us."

"_And then_ you kidnapped them, you naughty boy you. Turns out, they were friends of the happy survivor so the happy survivor who turns out to _not_ be so happy kidnapped Kuroro in revenge for the innocence he had so cruelly trampled on…"

"No, Midoya. He kidnapped me to get his friends back. He would never have killed me as long as his friends were in the hands of my Ryodan. If only Paku had realized…"

"The actual events are really terribly boring. My version is a lot better and who is to say it isn't as real as yours? I've always found 'reality' to be such a flexible concept. So, be quiet and let me finish it. Anyway, all you need to know really, Pepeka, is that Kuroro now can't use his Nen due to the unhappy survivor's Nen," Midoya finished.

Pepeka blinked. "He _can't_?" he asked, his eyes gleaming suddenly.

"Yes, he can't," Midoya confirmed. "And just so you know, Pepeka, Kuroro is paying me _a lot_ of money to protect him so don't you start getting any ideas now. Last I checked, I am still a lot more powerful than you."

"I… I wasn't!" Pepeka stammered. "I wasn't thinking anything!"

"But of course," Kuroro said dryly. Being vulnerable to attacks from people like Pepeka Timbal was starting to get on his nerves. "Anyway, you understand now why it is imperative that I locate a Jyonen-user immediately."

"I dunno," Pepeka said doubtfully. "There's still Chairman Netero to deal with. I mean…"

"Okay, first things first," Kuroro said firmly. "What are the steps involved in hacking into the database? Pepeka?"

Taken aback by the authority in Kuroro's voice, Pepeka scratched his head in thought. "Well, first of all, we have to get into the Hunters' Association Building to hack the system," he said. "The system can't be accessed from anywhere else. That's the first problem. I mean, Midoya-sensei and I could probably walk in just fine, but that would also mean once they realized the system's been hacked, we would be in trouble because we would be pretty much the prime suspects."

"Okay, entry and exit would be a problem. How about the system itself?"

"The system itself can't be hacked. It can only be accessed using the password that only Chairman Netero and the head of the data-collection team, Two Star Information Hunter Krunn knows." Pepeka shook his head. "That's not so difficult, that part. I might have an idea about that. What is difficult is actually getting the information we need. I mean, if I'm not wrong, the system is also set up such that we can't download information from the database into an external hardware. Best I can do is pick a few names, memorize them and then hope I don't get the spelling wrong."

"Okay," Kuroro said thoughtfully. "And how do you know so much, Pepeka?"

Pepeka jerked in surprise and then looked at Midoya. "You didn't tell him?"

"It's your secret, not mine."

Pepeka sighed dramatically. "I interned on the data collection team for a while," he mumbled. "For a period of time, when I was a lot younger… I mean… I was really into computers and…"

"He was a computer nerd," Midoya said bluntly.

"Sensei!"

Understanding dawned on Kuroro and he looked at Midoya intently. She hadn't brought him to Pepeka because Pepeka was easily bullied into following her; she had brought him to Pepeka because this was potentially the only person they knew who could get them access to the database. He had to learn to stop underestimating Midoya. There was obviously method to her madness, as much as there was madness to her method, evidently.

"So," Kuroro said finally. "The point is, you know the system as much as anyone outside of the higher management does."

"Yeah," Pepeka said uncomfortably. "But dude, listen, I was only an intern. Even the full-time staff never had access to everything you know? What I know, I learnt by sneaking around and picking up bits of rumours and stuff like that."

"But when you left the database collection team, you left a backdoor in the system," Midoya said casually. "So that you can access the system again should you desire to."

For a moment, Kuroro was convinced the young man's eyes were going to explode out of his head in a burst of disturbing body fluids. "How did you know, sensei?" Pepeka screeched. "I never told anybody…"

"Because that's what I taught you," Midoya said, smiling. "Never let go of any source of information. And that database is one humongous source of information."

Pepeka looked utterly disturbed while Kuroro's mind leapt into action. "If we get you into the Hunters' Association, you can access the database," he stated.

"Yes, but just small sections of it."

"That's sufficient," Kuroro said. "We don't need to know every single Jyonen-user out there. While it would be nice to be able to choose from a pool of talent, really, I only need one person to help me."

"So, the only problem left," Midoya said over Pepeka's stuttered protests, "is getting Pepeka in without letting anyone know he is in the building. If they know he was in the building once they realize the system has been hacked, he will become the prime suspect. Unfortunately, that would lead them to me and Kuroro." There wasn't any doubt that they _would_ successfully hack into the system, Kuroro noted. Her confidence was very appealing.

"Okay," Pepeka said finally. "You got a plan, sensei?" Apparently, Midoya's confidence was infectious.

"But of course," she said and looked at Kuroro, her eyes twinkling cheerfully. "With only the three of us, there's really only one plan we can use anyway."

Kuroro looked back at her thoughtfully. Then he got it.

"The Egg Cup," he said.

"Exactly," Midoya said and smiled brightly.

Midoya looked proud of herself. Kuroro looked thoughtful. Pepeka just looked scared. No one blamed him. _He_ was the egg after all.

* * *

><p><span>AN: I am not very satisfied with this chapter, but I hope you, my dear reader, still enjoyed it. Constructive criticism on how I could have better written this chapter is very much welcomed.

Trivial: When Pepeka Timbal was sixteen, he was pale, skinny and very intelligent. He also wore black-rimmed glasses and sniffled a lot. After he developed a crush on Midoya, to impress her, he spent hours training under the sun, developing beautiful tanned skin and huge bulging muscles, and destroying every single intelligent thought he had ever had. Only after that did he realized that Midoya-sensei _liked_ pale, shorter, intelligent men. It was all very sad.


	3. Hunting the Hunter's Association

A/N: This story is rated M for adult themes. The opinions of the characters do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the author.

Thank you to all those who have read (and reviewed) this story!

I do not own Hunter X Hunter or any other mentioned literature/books in this story.

* * *

><p><span>Hunting the Hunter's Association<span>

Everyone knows the game. On a table before you, are three cups, turned over so the rims lie flat against the table. Before the cups is an egg. With a flourish, the man behind the tables lifts each cup to demonstrate the normalcy and emptiness of the cups. Then one cup is placed over the egg. The cups go round and round, side to side with practiced ease. Finally, the audience is called forth to guess which cup the egg is under. The naïve and optimistic believe it is under one of the cups. The cynical believe the egg has been taken out of the game and all the cups are empty. Depending on how honest the dealer is, it could be any of it.

What really matters though is _misdirection_ – drawing the audience's eyes elsewhere as the egg moves. This misdirection is caused by the cups, because the harder you look at the cups, the less likely you are to see where the egg goes.

In fact, you probably wouldn't even realize when the egg starts to… change.

-break-

Security Guard was one of the thousand nameless faces in a very large organization. This particular large organization was the Hunters' Association. As is the nature of such organizations, people invariably get divided into certain levels. Right at the top is the position of LEADER. That category is occupied by only one person, in this case Chairman Netero. His word is absolute and he is instantly recognized by all partly because his portrait hung in each and every room in the building. Right below that was the TOP MANAGEMENT. These were the people who assisted Chairman Netero directly, and who were in charge of conveying his orders to the MIDDLE MANAGEMENT. The TOP MANAGEMENT, like the LEADER, was known throughout the organization and everyone knew their names and faces. The MIDDLE MANAGEMENT, in charge of making sure the LEADER's orders were carried out, was known only to the sections or departments they ran. And right below MIDDLE MANAGEMENT were the WORKING PEOPLE, people who actually carried out the orders of the LEADER. At the lowest level were the NAMELESS people. These were the people who carried out the essential job of running the building, but who were treated as part of the environment and thus ignored. Security guards, cleaners and technicians fell under this category.

And then there were the OTHER. These were people who were powerful and feared, but who took little to no part in the running of the Organization. Their faces and names were well-known, but only spoken in the most tensed of whispers. People get out of their way when the OTHER are seen; no one wants to be around when the bad things happen.

Presently, Security Guard wished he hadn't been on duty that night because he was looking at one of them.

"Good day," he said politely and wet his pants.

"Hello! Good day to you too, Mister!" the OTHER said cheerfully through the bars of the sentry post. "Here's my Hunter's license!" A card was slot through the bars and Security Guard picked it up and looked at it.

"Thank you," he said as he ran the card through the scanner. "What is your purpose for coming here today?"

"I'm delivering a bounty," the OTHER said, smiling ghoulishly through lips painted a bright orange. Another face was pulled into view. It was handsome, pale and beat to pulp, but still recognizable. The last time Security Guard had seen it, it was on the Net and it was very dead. Security Guard sat himself down before he could pass out on the floor.

"That is very nice," he said, sliding a notebook and pencil between the bars, careful to keep his fingers safely behind the bars. "Please kindly write down the number of bounties you are bringing in and the names of the bounties."

"But of course," the OTHER agreed amiably, shoving the bounty against the bars so she could free her hands to write.

Security Guard found himself automatically staring at the bounty's face as the bruised face was pushed straight into his line of sight. The bounty looked back, smiled a bloodied smile and confided, "She tore my nuts out with her bare hands."

Security Guard smiled back blankly. The bounty was still talking, dark, soulless eyes fixed on his, but suddenly, all he could think of was that _this guy had no nuts_.

"Here you go," the OTHER said finally, maneuvering the bounty out of the way so she could push the notebook back in. "Thanks a bunch, Mister!"

Wordlessly, Security Guard took the notebook and put it back in its proper place. Then he switched off the security system so the OTHER and her bounty could pass through. As soon as they had moved out of view, Security Guard got off his seat and rummaged in the cupboard behind him for the emergency supplies he kept just for occasions like this – a bottle of gin and the teddy bear he had owned since he was a child.

It was thus Security Guard failed to see another figure slip in through the gates just before it closed.

* * *

><p>Despite the fact that his hands and feet were chained up, his face was bruised and bloodied, and he had just started the rumours that he was now not the man he used to be, Kuroro could not help looking around like a tourist as Midoya lead him into the Hunter's Association building. This was, after all, the one place even the Ryodan would think twice about breaking into. To his disappointment, it looked pretty much like every other office building he had seen. Cubicles, people in boring clothes, a lot of paper and beeping electronics. Well, there was also the tight security present in the form of CCTVs and guards at every turn. Oh, and strange, deformed creatures that looked like a hybrid mix of grizzly, pitbull and crocodile.<p>

So fascinated was he with the environment that it took him a while to realize Midoya was sniggering quietly next to him. "What?" he mumbled out of the corner of his mouth.

"Dear Kuroro, did you just put me down in history as the woman who castrated the Dancho of the Genei Ryodan?" she whispered back, eyes alight with glee.

Oh right. "It was a great distraction, no?" Kuroro pointed out calmly. "Mention castration in front of any man and their brain function shuts down temporarily for an average of 1.25 seconds. Unfortunate as it may be for my reputation, it gave Pepeka plenty of time to sneak in."

"Yes, of course," Midoya said, but continued to snigger.

Kuroro sighed. "At least the plan is going smoothly," he said, as eyes started to focus on him.

And it was. Their plan was essentially a series of misdirections. By having Midoya bring him, Kuroro Lucifer, Dancho of the Genei Ryodan into the Hunter's Association building, they would give Pepeka a chance to sneak into the building to access the database. Once inside, Kuroro knew that all eyes would be on him, the mysterious leader of the Spider. He hadn't expected Midoya to draw so many looks as well, but it was to be expected, he supposed. In a way, it worked in their favour. The more attention they drew, the less likely Pepeka would be found out. After skittering around the place and making a big mess out of things, Kuroro would mysteriously vanish from the building. Hopefully, by then, everyone would be too confused to even figure out what crime had been committed and by whom.

"Let's give them a show, shall we?" Midoya murmured.

"But of course," Kuroro agreed then dropped to his knees suddenly. With a deft movement, he unlocked the chains around his ankles and leapt away just as Midoya's arm swung around in a powerful back hand. Fortunately, even without his nen, Kuroro was a swift and agile fighter, or his head would be missing his forehead, an often overlooked but essential piece of anatomy.

"I wouldn't suggest you do that, Lucifer," Midoya said loudly, drawing the attention of everyone in the vicinity. "You can't escape. Surrender."

Kuroro smiled coldly as he unlocked the chains around his wrist and let them clatter to the floor. "I don't think so, Blacklist Hunter Midoya," he replied. "I, unfortunately, detest prison cells, and tend to react most violently towards attempts to put me in one. It's a bad habit, I know, but one so hard to break." By now, a crowd had started to gather, though they remained at a safe distance. Behind the excited chatter, Kuroro could hear the violent footfalls of people running towards them.

"Perhaps I can break it for you then," Midoya smirked, her face cold and cruel. "After being in a cell for a good fifty years, I'm sure it'll grow on you."

"Alas, as delightful as that prospect is, I fear I have to decline," Kuroro said, giving a courtly little nod.

"Oh, yes," Midoya agreed. "I forgot, you probably wouldn't live another fifty years, no?"

Kuroro smiled grimly. "We shall see," he said and then turned and grabbed the closest person to him. It turned out to be a balding middle-aged man with a beer belly. Kuroro gripped the throat of his hostage and politely said, "Hello. What's your name?"

The hostage swallowed hard, his eyes wide with fear. "Kraus," he stammered. "Please don't hurt me."

"Well, Kraus," Kuroro said patiently. "That really depends on your dear colleagues, no? I would prefer not to hurt you, but if someone startles me, I may accidentally tear out your jugular. That would be rather unpleasant, I imagine." He smiled at Midoya and the group of Hunters, undoubtedly guards, who had appeared behind her. She looked back at him calculatingly.

"Move aside," Midoya said, her voice radiating calm authority, and the guards sidled confusedly to the sides of the corridor.

"Thank you," Kuroro said politely and started to move past the guards, dragging the hostage with him.

"The exit is the other way," Midoya pointed out mildly.

"Ah yes, the _exit_," Kuroro said with dry sarcasm. "Manned by powerful guards, guns and an electrified fence. I believe I will not take my chances with those." Oh, he forgot to mention the guard monsters, but he was sure his impromptu audience (who were staring at him with wide eyes) got his point. "Now, if you may, dear Blacklist Hunter Midoya, please remain where you are while I take my dear friend with me for a little ah… trip around the building." Smiling cruelly, he dragged Kraus towards the elevator.

All eyes were staring at him, all cameras were pointed at him, and no doubt, all the powerful Hunters in the building were coming for him. Silly people. We all know that the egg is _never_ in the cup we think it is under.

* * *

><p>Just as one empty cup remained in a corridor, secretly smiling to herself and another took an elevator ride up with a fake egg that had wet himself, the cup that really carried the egg was sitting in the empty Information Collection Department quickly but nervously scanning through the computer containing all the information collected to date. Perspiring and breathing hard, the cup tapped rapidly on the keyboard, willing it to go faster.<p>

Suddenly, there was the patter of footsteps right outside the door of the department. Alarmed, the cup dropped to his knees.

"_Hurry! They say the Dancho of the Genei Ryodan is loose in the building!" _

"_Yeah, I heard! Fuck! I can't believe he still has the strength to run around after that Midoya woman tore his nuts off!" _

"_Yeah! Man, these Genei Ryodan people are really monsters!"_

The footsteps faded into the distance as the cup remained frozen in place for 1.25 seconds. Well… it kind of explained why the security guard was cuddling a teddy bear when he snuck into the building.

Rising to his feet, the cup returned to the computer and tapped some more at it. A few seconds later, a box blinked onto screen. "Password!" it demanded. The cup paused for a moment in thought then wandered over to the open office of the Head of the Data Collection Department. He poked around vaguely for a while before he picked up a seemingly innocuous black book known more commonly as the diary of the Head of the Data Collection Department. Written on the inside, as he had found out years earlier, was the password to the Jyonen-user database. Quickly, he yielded to the demands of the box. Immediately, the box vanished with a cheerful _ding_.

The cup with the egg smiled widely and started to access the database.

Unfortunately, he only had a moment to enjoy his triumph before an alarm blared to life.

* * *

><p>Just as the cup with the egg was violating the privacy of the Head of the Information Collection Department, Kuroro Lucifer was busy lugging Kraus, middle-aged, balding <em>and fat<em> up the cables of the elevator.

The moment Kuroro had forced his hostage into an elevator, he had hit the button for the highest floor. Then, still gripping the throat of his shaking, pleading hostage, he had hoisted himself up and pushed the top of the elevator off.

"Up," he commanded coldly.

"Up?" Kraus demanded in a querulous voice. "You mean _up_? You expect me to climb _up_?" Fat thighs quivered and Kraus sat down abruptly on the floor. "I can't," he pleaded. "I can't. Please… I can't."

Kuroro eyed the shaking, round shape beneath him and spent a second wishing he had thought to grab a tinier person. Unfortunately, at this point, a hostage was necessary. A witness was needed, one whose testimony would not be questioned. So Kraus had to stay with him.

Heaving himself up, Kuroro planted his feet firmly against the walls of the elevator and reached up to grab the top of the elevator with his hand. With his other hand, he gripped Kraus's collar and pulled the both of them up onto the roof of the elevator. Kuroro wasn't particularly strong as Ryodan members went and the hostage was _heavy_, but they made it.

Breathing evenly but deeply, Kuroro perched on the roof of the elevator, Kraus now clinging desperately to his arm, and mentally counted off the floors. _7… 8… 9_…

"I have kids," Kraus said suddenly, thick, pudgy fingers plucking at Kuroro's shirt. "I have five kids and a wife."

"I am glad to hear of your fertileness," Kuroro replied absent-mindedly, brushing the offending digits away. _13… 14… _

"If I die," Kraus went on, a note of desperation in his voice. "They will die too… So please… please don't kill me!"

_15… 16… 17…_ "They will? Ah! You must mean you planted a HR-sensitive bomb in your family members?" Kuroro asked casually, peeping over the sides of the elevator. "So if your heart rate stops, the bombs go off?"

"What? No! I would never do that!" Kraus protested. "I mean, I am the sole breadwinner in my family! If I die, they will starve!"

Kuroro tsk-ed disapprovingly. "Only the strong survive in this world, dear Kraus. If your family starves because you are not around, they only deserve it for not striving for power. Ah! Good. We get off here."

Kraus's mouth opened and closed in shock. "Off?" he mumbled fearfully.

"Yes, dear Kraus," Kuroro said amiably. "Right about… now." In a sudden burst of speed, Kuroro grabbed Kraus's collar and leapt for the sides of the elevator shaft. Kraus howled in terror and clung desperately to Kuroro's arm.

"Don't let go of me!" he blabbered. "Please! Don't let go of me!"

"Silence," Kuroro said sternly as he tried to edge around the narrow ledge to reach the doors. "Step up here on the ledge! And stop shaking! It is very unbecoming of you."

Shaking and crying openly, Kraus clambered onto the ledge, still clinging to Kuroro's arms and tried to follow Kuroro's lead with wobbly baby steps. "You wouldn't let me die?" he asked hopefully.

"Only if you stop crying and move."

"Okay," Kraus said, almost glowing with hope. "Okay. I'm moving. I am."

"Good."

With the iron grip on his arm finally loosening, Kuroro managed to make his way towards the doors. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a crowbar and jammed it into the space between the two doors. "I need both arms," he informed Kraus.

"No!" Kraus said, panicked. "I'll fall!"

"Just hang on to the cables," Kuroro said uncaringly.

Quivering, Kraus complied and Kuroro gripped the crowbar with both arms. Tensing his muscles, he strained against the doors for a while until they finally parted. Kuroro stuck his head out stealthily and looked around. The corridor was empty, but a CCTV was positioned a little further down the corridor facing them. Against all his instincts as a bandit, Kuroro stuck his head out even further until he was sure the CCTV had caught sight of him. Then he ducked back into the elevator shaft just as the alarm began to blare. A mechanized voice intoned from hidden speakers, _"All units alert. The intruder is on the twenty-second floor, corridor Delta. Repeat. All units alert. The intruder is on the twenty-second floor, corridor Delta."_

Twenty-second floor. The floor where the Information Collection Department was located. Kuroro smiled then wiped it off his face as he turned back to Kraus. "We move. Now."

"Where are we going?" Kraus asked fearfully. "What are you here for?"

With a loud, dramatic sigh, Kuroro pulled himself up into the corridor then reached down and pulled Kraus up as well. "Information," he said cryptically then knocked Kraus out. Glancing at the CCTV, he drew a slender blade from his boots and threw it straight through the camera. It sizzled loudly as it fell to the ground.

Already in the distance, he could hear people running towards his position. He had to move fast. Quickly, he ducked into the Information Collection department and immediately caught sight of Pepeka crouched by a computer in the far side of the room.

Without further ado, Pepeka said, "I have the information. The system is still on. I've reset the time so it looks like you only just accessed it."

"Good," Kuroro said with a quick nod of approval. "Now get out of here before they see you."

In the blink of the eye, Pepeka was gone, climbing out of the window and disappearing into shadows where he would wait for a chance to bypass security and escape the compound. Kuroro had to smile. Pepeka _was _Midoya's disciple after all.

Footsteps started to approach his position and Kuroro quickly positioned himself in front of the computer. Briefly, he considered striking a dramatic pose but decided to settle for believability.

"Freeze, Kuroro Lucifer!" a masculine voice shouted from the doorway. "We have you cornered!"

Kuroro whipped around with a look of, what he hoped, was surprise on his face. "Too fast!" he said loudly, as if speaking to himself. "I am not done downloading the very important data on Jyonen-users that I came here specifically to steal!"

"You ain't stealing nothing, buster! Get out here now!" the voice repeated. "Or I'm going to…_ oof_!"

Silence filled the room then the door opened and Midoya stepped in, smiling peacefully. "Hello," she said.

"Did they see you?" Kuroro asked.

Midoya's smile widened. "Need you ask?"

"Of course not. Please accept my apologies." Kuroro looked around the room with great satisfaction. "Now, when they find out the database has been hacked, they will assume it was just me. Pepeka is safe."

"Thank you for helping me protect my disciple," Midoya said.

"It was my pleasure," Kuroro replied. She looked at him for a moment, a warm smile on her face. Then suddenly, the warmth waned a little and she turned away to peer curiously at some of the machinery in the room. Odd.

"Well," Midoya said, poking at some piece of technology that was making steady beeping noises. "Now that we have protected Pepeka, we have nothing to worry about. Let's get out of here."

"Indeed," Kuroro agreed. "Alas, I am afraid the only one in trouble is you, for bringing this troublesome hostage into the building."

"Bah," Midoya said dismissively. "They can't do anything to me. So I was tricked by the great Dancho of the Genei Ryodan into bringing him into the Hunter's Association building. That doesn't matter."

"Oh? What does matter then?"

Holding out her hand as if she were holding an orange in her hand, Midoya grinned and said, "That I ripped your balls off."

* * *

><p>As it turns out, Midoya was right. Kraus, upon waking up, told Chairman Netero how he had been taken hostage and dragged up twenty-two stories to the Information Collection Department, bravely protesting and resisting the cruel Dancho of the Genei Ryodan. <em>"I tried to get him to go to church and renounce his evil ways, Chairman, but the evil man laughed in my face! He even threatened to kill my family! It was awful, but I stood strong against him! It's amazing how a talented young man like that could be corrupted by the pleasures of the material world. I am glad I am a much more spiritual person than that!"<em> On the twenty-second floor, he had been knocked out, but not before the _evil_ Kuroro Lucifer had revealed that he was looking for information. A quick investigation revealed that the database on Jyonen-users had been hacked into, but only for a minute. Undoubtedly, the wicked Kuroro Lucifer had failed to get away with anything useful. The guards, before they were knocked out by Kuroro Lucifer's mysterious powers, could testify to that; they had _heard_ the man say so themselves.

That left the question of what to do with Two Star Blacklist Hunter, Midoya, the Hunter who had brought the _evil_ Kuroro Lucifer into the building. Accusations were made, ranging from incompetence at best to complicity at worst. In the end though, what everyone could agree on was that she had _ripped Kuroro Lucifer's nuts off_. That was ample evidence proving Blacklist Hunter Midoya was by no means an incompetent Hunter or an accomplice. She got off with a short lecture by Chairman Netero.

Besides, no one wanted to go against Midoya June Kito. Just look at what happened to the President of BNE.

Seriously, _ouch_.

* * *

><p>In the dark apartment, two figures sat quietly, one on the couch and the other at the office desk. There was no sound in the room except the tapping of fingers on the keyboard. Finally, the larger of the figures exhaled loudly and leaned back into the swivel chair he was sitting on. "This is going nowhere," he grumbled, pushing the keyboard to the desktop away from him. "It's so fucking hard to locate any of these Jyonen-users, even if we know their names! Those bastards are good at only two things: being sneaky and lying low. I swear."<p>

The other figure lifted his eyes from the laptop on his lap and agreed, "Unfortunately, it seems so."

"I can't believe we are going through so much shit for you, Lucifer."

"You only dare say that because Midoya is out." Even without looking at the larger man, Kuroro could feel when he tensed up with anger.

It was a difficult situation to be in. Kuroro and Pepeka had never been alone together before; Midoya had always been there as a sort of mediating figure (as much as smiles and threats can be considered mediation). However, Midoya had been summoned to the Hunter's Association, leaving them no choice but to face the inevitable: time alone together. The best they could do was to ignore each other and hope for the best. Midoya's warning before she left (_"Play nice. If I come back and find out you've been fighting, I'll be very sad."_) was sufficient motivation to maintain an uneasy truce.

Fortunately, Pepeka seemed to remember that because he took a deep breath and sat back into his chair, though he continued glaring at Kuroro. "You shouldn't call her that," he said instead, bristling.

"Pardon?" Kuroro asked politely. If there was going to be a fight, Kuroro was going to make sure _Pepeka _started it. It was extremely childish, yes, but it was also the principle of the thing. Kuroro was not going to be the one who lost his temper because he was provoked.

"You shouldn't address Midoya-sensei by her name like that," Pepeka grumbled. "You're just her client."

Leaning back into the couch, Kuroro rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Just her client?" he mused. "You seem to forget I have a… ah… _history_ with dear Midoya."

"Which is just that, history!" Pepeka growled. "It's all in the past! Now, you are just her fucking client, Lucifer!"

"Indeed, I fear you are right," Kuroro said mildly. "I shall address her as Midoya-san from now on then." Calmly, he turned back to his laptop and continued the draining task of locating each and every Jyonen-user Pepeka had been able to find on the database.

There was silence between the pair for a while then Pepeka shifted nervously. "You serious?" he asked warily.

"But of course," Kuroro replied. "If we're going to be working together from now on, it is only in our best interests that we reduce the number of issues between us that could cause tension and hostility. If you wish me to distance myself from Midoya-san, to disregard the intimate times we shared in the past, to rebuff all her attempts to forge a meaningful and long-lasting friendship, and to treat our relationship as nothing more than an economic transaction, I would be glad to do so."

"That's not what I meant!" Pepeka spluttered, a look of horror on his face.

Kuroro turned blank, soulless eyes on the flustered man. "Needless to say, Midoya-san will not respond well to my attempts," he went on, ignoring the increasingly anxious protests. "Undoubtedly, Midoya-san will be deeply hurt and confused by my sudden coldness towards her. Given her stubborn personality, I also have no doubts that she will seek the reason behind my sudden change in attitude towards her."

Now Pepeka wore the look of a man in mortal danger, as the implications sank in.

"Fear not, Timbal-san," Kuroro went on calmly. "I will not reveal this conversation to her, no matter what she does to me. But alas, Midoya-san is a terribly resourceful woman, so smart, so capable, so… persuasive. If she should…"

"Okay! Okay! I get it!" Pepeka shouted, leaping to his feet in a surge of desperation. "Just call her whatever you want, but for fuck's sake, don't make her _sad_!"

"Don't make who sad?" Midoya asked, climbing in through Pepeka's balcony.

"Fuck!" Pepeka blurted out, eyes wide with fear. "Midoya-sensei! When… when did you get back? I mean, welcome back!"

"Hi to you too. And you, Kuroro," Midoya said, smoothing down the long black skirt she was wearing. Kuroro murmured a greeting. Satisfied with the state of her skirt, Midoya looked around and asked, "What's wrong?"

"N… nothing," Pepeka mumbled, eyes on the floor. "We were talking about… about… erm… Jyonen…"

"I see," Midoya said pleasantly. Pepeka gulped and started to tremble as Kuroro started to calculate his chances of making it out of the apartment in one piece (30%, if Midoya went for Pepeka first). "Alright then. What have you guys found out so far?"

There was a long silence as both men tried to gauge the sincerity of the question. Finally, Pepeka lowered himself back onto his chair, a look of relief on his face. "Not much, Midoya-sensei," he confessed. "I managed to get three names out of the database, but Lu… I mean Kuroro and I have been searching the Net and we can't find anything about their current locations."

"How unfortunate," Midoya murmured, staring vaguely at the screen of the laptop on Kuroro's lap. "Let me see, what are the names again?"

"Abengane, Polkito and Hyunne," Kuroro replied. "Whether those are their first names or last names, we do not know. There are no pictures of these individuals, no last known address, no phone numbers… We can't even find any rumours about these individuals. Undoubtedly, they are not high-profiled enough to be taken note of in the Hunter grapevine. As reluctant as I am to say this, I fear our little excursion into the Hunter's Association building has failed to yield any fruitful results."

"Unfortunate," Midoya repeated, frowning slightly.

"Fuck," Pepeka agreed.

As frustrating as it was, no one voiced any more complains. Both Midoya and Pepeka were Blacklist Hunters, and Kuroro ran a bandit organization; all of them were aware that such situations happened more often than not in cases such as this. Often, great risks were taken that produced few to no results. It was but the nature of the game.

"So," Pepeka said, tapping his foot restlessly. "What now?"

Kuroro exchanged glances with Midoya. Their initial assumption was that finding the Jyonen-user would give them a destination. However, now it seemed that finding a Jyonen-user was just as difficult as finding their destination in the East. There was really only one thing to do. "Let's take a look at Neon Nostrad's prophecy again," Kuroro said finally.

"Neon Nostrad?" Pepeka questioned, his forehead creasing in a frown. "You mean the Nostrad girl who makes prophecies that are a hundred percent accurate?"

"The very same," Kuroro agreed.

"Holy shit! You got a prophecy from her? You must be fucking rich! Those things cost billions of zennis!"

"Really? I got it for free."

"What the fuck! How…?"

Kuroro paused in thought. "I smiled a lot, complimented her hair and simply agreed with everything she said."

Pepeka's jaw remained hanging open. "Fuck…" he mumbled even as Kuroro fished around in the pocket of his pants (his coat was still at the dry cleaners, for real this time) and pulled out a neatly folded piece of paper.

"Here," Kuroro said, offering the piece of paper to Pepeka. This was followed by a lot of frowning and mumbling as Pepeka slowly read through the prophecy.

"I don't get it. It's so much pansy language," he said finally, glaring at the paper like it was its fault. "But it seems you should be heading East?"

"Indeed," Kuroro said dryly. "Unfortunately, that is the vaguest of directions. Where should we head East of? And for how long? Are we to simply climb into a blimp and keep flying East? That is a fairly ridiculous plan, as you can imagine. I highly doubt we can locate a Jyonen-user from ten thousand feet above sea level."

"We could speculate," Midoya went on, "that the prophecy intends for Kuroro to travel east of York Shin City, which is where he was last at, but that is only speculation."

"Okay," Pepeka said slowly. "Why don't we get a boat and just sail East of York Shin City?"

There was an electrified silence in the apartment then Kuroro tentatively questioned, "A boat?"

"Yeah," Pepeka said. "I mean… if we are on a boat, we would be able to stop at every land mass we encounter and take a look around. I mean…" he trailed off sheepishly and then continued, "I mean, I know it's pretty time consuming and all that, but…" he hesitated again, "but I mean… we don't really have much to lose, do we?"

It was hard not to cringe with two pairs of black, sharp eyes focused on him, so Pepeka didn't even bother to try. He simply shrank into himself, wishing he hadn't spoken out loud.

Then Kuroro said thoughtfully, "A boat. You know, actually…"

* * *

><p><span>AN: Thank you for reading!

Trivial: As 'Other' as Midoya was to the Hunter's Association, she was, nonetheless, still a Two Star Hunter. Hence, it was inevitable that eventually, she was summoned to be an Examiner for one of the Hunter Exams. The test ended in the first round, which Midoya was in charge of. Netero and the Examination Committee were extremely annoyed. That was because all the examinees who took part in the first round had ended up dead.

When questioned about it, Midoya replied, "I really don't know why they died. My test was very simple; all I wanted to do was test the courage of the examinees. So I simply told them to jump off a hundred foot cliff into the sea populated with giant sharks. I even demonstrated it myself and it was so easy. I really don't know... Oh wait! I only told them they had to jump; I didn't say they have to survive! Does that mean...?"

"Yes," Netero had replied sternly. "This year, fifty people passed the Hunter Exam. They are also all dead." This made it the year with the highest pass rate and highest mortality rate of examinees in the history of the Hunter's Association.

Consequently, Midoya was never summoned back to be an examiner again.


	4. Greed Island and the

A/N: This story is rated M for adult themes. The opinions of the characters do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the author.

Thank you to all those who have read (and reviewed) this story!

I do not own Hunter X Hunter or any other mentioned literature/books in this story.

* * *

><p><span>Greed Island and the Unpleasant Young Man on It<span>

"Sensei," Pepeka said solemnly. "I wish to be the first to say I object to this plan."

"What are you saying?" Midoya chided gently, bobbing up and down in rhythm with the gentle waves. "It was your idea to begin with."

"Yes, I know," Pepeka said, frustrated. "But this was not what I _meant_!" With a violent gesture, he pointed to the boat they were currently sitting in. When Pepeka had first come up with the idea of sailing east, he had imagined they would have chartered a yacht or some equally sea-worthy vessel. The boat they were in now, still tied to the dock, was no such vessel. It was ancient, battered and half-flooded, and barely big enough to sit three people or five dwarves. It also smelt strongly of fish and was powered by the most environmentally-friendly of power sources, _rowing_.

"I don't see anything wrong with this boat," Midoya said, looking around with a vague expression on her face.

"You don't?" Pepeka exclaimed, a look of profound distress on his face. "Sensei! There's a dead shark in the boat!" Now he was pointing violently at the offending carcass next to Midoya.

"Oh," Midoya said, looking surprised, and picked up the shark gingerly. In her defense, Pepeka had to admit, the shark was pretty darn small, barely the length of his forearm. For a moment, Midoya looked like she didn't know what to do with the carcass then she turned to the dock and called out, "Kuroro, is this lunch?"

Kuroro, who was still talking to the owner of the boat, a stooped, hawk-like elderly man Kuroro had called "sir" and who had addressed Kuroro as "stupid brat", turned and glanced over. For a split second, he too looked confounded at the sight of the dead shark. It was the elderly man who replied by shouting, "Now you leave Suzie on the docks, missy! You may be taking my boat but you ain't taking my pet!"

"But of course," Midoya said as if that made perfect sense and obligingly placed the carcass on the dock next to the boat.

With a loud sniff, the owner turned back to Kuroro and said, "Since it's you asking for me boat, I can expect to never see it again."

"You have a very high opinion of me, sir," Kuroro replied dryly.

The elderly man glared at him for a while then reached over and smacked his ear with a claw-like hand, calloused by years of hard labour at sea. "Don't get smart with me, brat," he said sharply.

"No, sir," Kuroro said politely, ear still ringing.

"Bah," the elderly man snorted. "Now listen good; this is the last favour I'm ever doing for you. Take my boat and get out of me sight. I never want to see you and your gang ever again."

"Yes sir," Kuroro said and obediently started to prepare for cast off.

Midoya peered at him as he untied the ropes holding the boat to the dock. "Who is he?" she murmured, nodding slightly at the elderly man who had turned his back on them.

"An old teacher," Kuroro replied quietly. "One who is greatly disappointed with me, I fear."

Pepeka who had been eavesdropping openly, gaped, "He's your _nen_-master?"

"No. He taught me how to knit," Kuroro replied seriously.

Kuroro tossed the ropes into the boat and climbed in, ignoring Pepeka's suspicious glare. The boat rocked violently as he did, but he managed to sit down behind Midoya before he upset the boat. Grabbing the oars, he passed them to the other two occupants of the boat. Pepeka took it like he knew how to wield it. Surprisingly, Midoya seemed to know how to handle an oar as well.

"You know how to row?" Kuroro asked curiously as they pushed off from the docks, rowing in sync.

"Yes," Midoya confirmed. "I went alligator hunting in the Lori Swamps last year. The gator I caught was larger than the boat, and I had to kill my guide because it turns out he was an assassin sent to kill me. Then I found myself stranded in the swamps for two weeks before I made it out. I had to eat the gator I caught, and it tasted just like chicken. I'm glad I made it out when I did though, or I would have had to eat my guide as well and I'm sure he would have tasted just like a two week old corpse. It was a great deal of fun; we should do it together one day."

"Which part? Alligator hunting, killing the guide, getting stranded in a swamp or eating our kills?"

"All the above of course, and more if we can squeeze it into our busy schedules."

"I would like that," Kuroro said sincerely. Midoya looked back at him, a smile on her face that did not reach her eyes. Kuroro looked back calmly, but he was puzzled. Had he said something wrong?

"Kuroro, just so you know," Pepeka broke in. "I am strongly against this plan."

"Why?" Kuroro asked, puzzled.

"Yeah, Pepeka. The dead shark is already gone. What's the problem?"

"The shark isn't the problem!" Pepeka shouted and then tried to sit still as the boat almost flipped over. "This boat is the problem! We're going to be sailing the fucking open seas! We can't do it in a little row boat like this! We'll drown!"

Kuroro pursed his lips. "I really don't see what you are basing this conclusion on," he said finally.

"What the fuck? How can you not see a problem with going out into open seas in this tin can?" Pepeka roared. "Have you ever been on the open seas? The waves there are fucking insane! A small wave would toss us into the sea and we would fucking die!"

"Disappointing," Kuroro said disapprovingly. "Dear Pepeka, over-exposure to bad television has obviously left you with the impression that brandying profanities adds weight to your argument."

"You motherfucking bastard! What the fuck does that mean?"

"It means exactly that, Pepeka," Kuroro said dryly then, "tell me, how does one rent a boat in these parts?"

Taken aback by the sudden non-sequitur, Pepeka floundered for a moment before sullenly saying, "You get it from them rentals."

"Indeed," Kuroro said pleasantly. "And do these rentals accept the Hunter license as substitute for payment?"

"Yeah? What about it?"

"The implication of the Hunter license being a substitute for payment," Kuroro went on as they continued rowing out to sea, "is that the Hunter's Association has its fingers, eyes, ears and every other sensory organ in that particular industry." He paused to let it sink it then continued, "In other words, if we rented a boat from a rental, we would be recognized by the people renting the boats because _they_ would know our faces – well, Midoya's and mine, certainly, and perhaps yours too, dear Pepeka, given that everyone knows you were Midoya's disciple. With the fiasco at the Hunter's HQ that we caused the last time, either one of us renting a boat would raise an alarm. Not necessarily a terribly huge alarm, mind, but an alarm nonetheless. If anyone thought to follow up on it, we would be, as is the slang nowadays, _screwed_."

Struck speechless, Pepeka could only gape at Kuroro for a while.

"Admittedly," Kuroro said with a shrug, "we could steal a boat. But any respectable sea-faring boat in this area (remember York Shin is a metropolis, not a port city) would certainly be owned by someone rich. Is it really worth the risk antagonizing someone that powerful now when the both of you are being watched by the Hunter's Association and I cannot use my Nen?"

"Midoya-sensei has a boat," Pepeka said finally. "Why…"

"I'm being watched," Midoya said, smiling ruefully. "Not terribly well, given how I shook off pursuers so easily on my way here, but my ah… assets are certainly being monitored. Evidently, at least some factions in the Hunter's Association are still suspicious of me, or at the very least, are looking for an excuse to defame me."

"So you understand, Pepeka?" Kuroro questioned as they, with surprising speed, hit open water. "This boat, dubious as it may appear, is the lesser evil."

Grumpily, Pepeka settled down to rowing. "Yeah, I got it," he growled. "Still, if we end up drowning, I swear I'll haunt the shit out of you."

* * *

><p>Two hours later, Kuroro started to see that Pepeka had a point. The problem wasn't rough waves, because the sea was fairly calm, nor was it the dampness and stench that arose from the boat. After all, one does not grow up in Meteor City to the smell of detergent and perfumes. The constant rowing under the blazing sun wasn't an issue either; Kuroro was used to exerting himself far more strenuously than this. The problem was, quite simply, the space available in the boat.<p>

The boat while long enough, technically, to accommodate three people, did not leave much room for leg space. Though Kuroro wasn't necessarily a particularly tall person, he was by no means a midget, and a certain amount of space was needed for him to sit comfortably. Fortunately, Midoya, standing at barely five feet did not take up too much space. Unfortunately, Pepeka, standing well over six feet and weighing close to two hundred pounds in muscles, took up half the boat by virtue of long, bulky legs. The end result was Kuroro having to sit with his legs curled up to his chest, resulting in an unhappy lack of blood circulation in his limbs. At least Pepeka looked as uncomfortable as he felt. Only Midoya appeared to be sitting with any degree of comfort.

Another hour later, Kuroro found another problem with the boat: that it had no shelter. Sitting under the blazing sun hadn't been an issue initially. To cool down, they had taken turns splashing themselves with water. However, after so long in the sun, Kuroro was starting to feel his skin burn. It was no surprise, he mused moodily, that he would burn so easily given how pale he was. Well, Midoya was starting to burn too, if the redness around her neck and face was anything to go by, but she wasn't complaining. If anything, she looked utterly calm and unflappable as she rowed steadily.

Not two hours later, Kuroro found their supplies dwindling. The nearest port, they had found out prior to setting off, was Port Parish, which was, according to the map, a seven hour journey from the docks they had left. That was another two hours away. Certainly, there would be no problem reaching the port; the discomfort they would experience before reaching it was mounting though.

Suddenly Midoya stopped rowing.

"What is it?" Kuroro asked.

"I'm going to have a heat stroke," Midoya said calmly. "I can feel the symptoms. Dizziness, weakness and nausea."

"Fuck," Pepeka said from the front of the boat, turning to look at Midoya who was sitting in the middle. "It's okay. We're close to Port Parish sensei; we'll…" He broke off suddenly as Midoya started pulling off her top. "Sensei!" he exclaimed in horror. "What are you doing?"

Kuroro was already putting the oar down and reaching for her. "One of the symptoms of heat stoke is confusion," he said, grabbing hold of Midoya. Immediately, she chased his hand away gently.

"I'm not confused at all," she said as she reached down and started to pull off her shoes and pants. "I'm going for a swim." Without warning, she jumped off the side of the boat with a surprisingly small splash.

"Sensei!" Pepeka shouted in alarm.

"Hush, I'm fine," Midoya said, holding on to the side of the boat. "I need to cool down to avoid the stroke. The sea is nice and cool." Smiling, she kicked off gently from the boat and started to swim in lazy laps, taking care not to stray too far from the boat.

Kuroro eyed her. "I don't think that's safe," he told her. "I heard these waters are infested with sharks."

"Mmm. Delicious," Midoya drawled, floating on her back. "Join me?" She smiled up at him, not the slightest bit embarrassed that she was wearing nothing but a sports bra and sensible cotton panties.

The water did look very nice and if he was to be honest with himself, Kuroro could feel a heat stroke sneaking up on him too. Wordlessly, he started to pull off his clothes. Pepeka made a very undignified sound of horror and Kuroro ignored him. He slid into the water with a little more caution than Midoya and slowly started to swim towards her. "I'm not a very good swimmer," he informed her. "Meteor City has no bodies of water you want to be swimming in, and I'm really a city person."

"No worries," Midoya said, eyes closed and body relaxed. "I'll save you if we meet a shark. You've paid up for the week."

They were now far enough from the boat that Pepeka was obviously alarmed, given how he was shouting at them to get back. It was stupid, Kuroro mused, jumping into the shark-infested waters like this. But Midoya seemed to have the unique ability to convince him to do stupid things simply because it was fun.

Swimming closer to her, he realized this was the first time since they had landed in York Shin in her blimp that they were alone together. "Why did you come?" he asked suddenly, surprising himself with the question.

"Why did I come?" Midoya questioned back, lifting her head up to look at him. They were only a foot apart.

"Why did you come to help me?" he elaborated. "You didn't have to. The last time, two years ago, when we parted, I almost killed you. My Ryodan and I killed all the members of your household. We destroyed a good bit of your family mansion."

Midoya's brow furrowed in thought as she treaded water. "You called me," she said looking confused. "That's why I came of course."

Kuroro's eyebrow shot up. "Just because I called you?" he asked, bemused.

"Yeah," Midoya said as if he were a particularly slow kid. "Why else?" She disappeared beneath the water for a while then surfaced behind him.

"Do you do that for everybody?" Kuroro asked curiously, awkwardly moving his arms so he could turn to face her. "Help just because they called you?"

"Why not? If I have nothing better to do," Midoya said, looking puzzled.

"So you don't plan to avenge the people who died in your mansion that night?" Kuroro asked, trying not to feel insulted.

"Why should I? When I hired them, each and every one of them was told that they were being paid a lot of money because living in that mansion meant living in mortal danger all the time. They knew the risks." Midoya shrugged. "Besides, I don't know most of them personally. Why should I care?"

At that, Kuroro had to smile. "If you said that to a young boy I know, I fear he would be greatly annoyed with you," he told her, thinking of the young boy with black, spikey hair, who had surrendered to him and then glared at him with such rage.

Midoya laughed at that and continued swimming slow but powerful laps around him. Kuroro watched her for a moment more. It was so strange, he mused. He knew that he was, by nature, a rather fickle person. Once he had possession of something for a while, he would get bored and get rid of it in pursuit of other things. Yet, Midoya never failed to continuously recapture his interest. Even now, he still couldn't make sense of her at times and it was… fascinating.

Slowly, Kuroro paddled up to her. She stopped swimming and watched him approach her. When he was near enough, he impulsively reached out to touch her cheek. It wasn't meant to be a particularly intimate gesture; he had the vague feeling that he merely wanted to brush water off her face. However, the moment he leaned towards her, she pulled back abruptly.

Startled, Kuroro backed off and looked at her curiously. She looked back at him, and her eyes were cold and distant. "We should get out of the water," she said. "I'm sure you said something about sharks?"

Kuroro's gaze turned cool and calculating. Midoya wasn't necessarily the most physical of people, but he had never seen her back away from physical shows of affection before. She usually received hugs and even kisses with the same kind warmness she exhibited towards strangers climbing into her penthouse. He had never seen her shut down so abruptly from social contact.

He opened his mouth, intending to ask her about her what that was about. However, out of the corner of his eye, he saw the boat pull up not three feet from where he was.

"The two of you…!" Pepeka shouted angrily from the boat. "You'll be the death of me! Get in the boat now, Lucifer! And sensei! Sensei! I swear I saw _huge_ dark shapes in the water. For fuck's sake, get back in the boat, _please_!"

Obligingly, Kuroro reached out and started to climb in the boat as Pepeka continued to shout, "Sensei! Come on!"

Kuroro glanced back and was surprised to see Midoya still treading the water, eyes fixed somewhere in the distance. "Midoya?" he questioned tentatively, but she did not turn to face him. Mildly alarmed, Kuroro was prepared to drop back into the sea and pull her back when Midoya turned around and looked at them, an odd expression on her face.

"Say," she said. "You said Port Parish is the nearest land mass right?"

"Yes?"

"And that's still a good two hours from here?"

"Yes? What's wrong?"

Midoya turned and squinted into the distance. "So," she said, pointing. "Where's that?"

Both Kuroro and Pepeka turned to stare in the direction she was pointing. At first Kuroro saw nothing then he realized that the darker parts of the sea that he had assumed were shadows were actually land. Squinting, he thought he could catch a glimpse of trees but he wasn't sure; the land was obviously pretty far away, but not far away enough to be Port Parish.

As they were still staring at the land, Midoya heaved herself into the boat and started digging through their navigation supplies. She fiddled with the compass and the map for a while then she looked up, eyes alight with excitement. "Wherever that is," she said, her voice calm, "it's directly east of York Shin."

"Fuck!" Pepeka exclaimed, ecstatic, as Kuroro's eyes focused on Midoya.

"I propose we head in that direction then," Kuroro said, picking up his oar.

"Seconded," Midoya said as Pepeka exclaimed, "Fuck yeah!"

With renewed enthusiasm, the trio started to paddle rapidly for land. Kuroro tried to remind himself that it was useless to get over-excited now; they had no way of knowing at the moment if this was where he would find the Jyonen-user. He should not get his hopes too high. But deep inside, he knew.

This was the place.

* * *

><p>Reaching the land mass they had spotted proved surprisingly difficult. Firstly, while scanning the coast, they could not find a good place to land, given how the area was full of sharp rocks and other geological features hostile to boats. Secondly, the current was powerful in that area and kept pushing them away from the land. Eventually, they had been forced to stop and reconsider their approach to the island.<p>

"We can't get the boat to the island," Kuroro said as they sat in the boat, breathing deeply. "The current keeps pushing the boat away. Our best bet is to strengthen ourselves with Nen and swim over. It will be a lot easier than trying to maneuver the boat to dry land." Turning to address Midoya, he added, "The problem of course, is I can't use Nen. I'm afraid one of you will have to assist me."

Midoya nodded. "I can do that using my abilities," she said. "Or Pepeka can drag you along. He's strong enough."

"I don't want to hold your hand," Pepeka said, shuddering in disgust. Kuroro silently agreed.

"Well then," Midoya said, smiling. "Shall we?"

With a whoop, Pepeka dived into the water and started swimming for the island with powerful strokes, body glowing with Nen. Midoya jumped into the water too, but didn't start swimming for the island. Instead, she winked at Kuroro and said, "Yang." Instantly, she turned into a gleaming statue of silver. Surprisingly, she seemed capable of keeping afloat despite how heavy she was in that form. She gestured with her hand for Kuroro to join her in the water.

Slowly, Kuroro slipped into the water and was instantly pulled under the water by the strong currents. A heavy, cold hand clamped around his arm and pulled him back up. He surfaced to the sight of Midoya's featureless silver face. Her face tilted in question and Kuroro realized that she may not be able to speak in this state.

"Let's go," he panted, struggling to keep his head above the water. Nodding, Midoya turned him around and wrapped her arm around his torso. With a powerful backstroke, she started to pull them towards the island.

Though the swim could not have taken more than ten minutes, it seemed a lot longer to Kuroro. There was the way water kept trying to force itself down his lungs, and the way strong currents dragged him about and threatened to pull him out of Midoya's grasp. There was also the way his clothes got progressively heavier the longer he was in the water. It was all very life-threatening and annoying, and Kuroro was certain the salt water was going to ruin his coat.

Finally, after much floundering in the water, Kuroro felt his legs hit something solid. Flopping around gracelessly, Kuroro found himself standing on the beach, still chest-deep in water. A sense of immense relief filled him, the addictive kick that came after surviving certain death, as Midoya grabbed his hand and together they walked further inland. Once they were completely out of the water, Midoya released her Hatsu.

"That was fun," she said, beaming.

Kuroro had to smile at that despite his annoyance at how calm she looked in comparison to him. "Alright, let's investigate this island," he said.

"Okay," Midoya agreed, looking around. "Where's Pepeka?"

They were answered when Pepeka suddenly flew out through the forest in front of them. Kuroro got a brief glimpse of Pepeka glowing with Nen and clutching what looked like a mini sun to his chest before he crashed into the water. Steam rose from where he landed.

Midoya turned and faced the direction Pepeka had flown from, her body languid and relaxed though her eyes burned with a sharp intensity. "Kuroro, please save Pepeka from drowning," she said calmly. "I'll go investigate up front."

"Of course," Kuroro agreed and started to wade into the water. As much as he would like to find out what happened, he also knew without his Nen, he would not be of much use under attack.

Fortunately, the current closer to shore was not as strong, and Kuroro managed to reach the spot where Pepeka had landed. "Pepeka?" he called out, reaching out to the figure floating face-down in the water. At the same instanty he touched the still form, Pepeka erupted from the water, roaring with rage and a tall, muscular man with spikey black hair emerged from the forest, radiating Nen.

"Bastard!" Pepeka howled, splashing water and emitting steam as he stormed towards dry land, his Nen burning wildly around him. "I'm going to get you for that!"

"Ho," the newcomer said, looking calmly impressed. "You took a direct hit from me and survived. I'm impressed."

"Fucker!" Pepeka shouted, face red with both embarrassment and rage at the same time.

"Pepeka," Kuroro said in warning and Pepeka glared at him furiously.

"That fucker threw a fucking nen ball at me!" Pepeka howled. "I want his fucking blood!"

"Shut up," Kuroro said sharply in the same tone of voice he used on Phinx and Nobunaga when their antics got a little too… bloody. Pepeka responded to the authority in his voice and subsided immediately, though he continued to glare at the newcomer.

The stranger smiled at the exchange and then glanced over at Midoya who was the closest to him. "Hi cutie," he said, smile widening. Pepeka roared with rage at that and Kuroro was forced to snap at him again.

"Hi right back at you, stranger," Midoya said, smiling warmly. "Who are you and why did you toss my poor disciple into the sea?"

"My name is Razor," the stranger said. "I'm one of the Game Masters. I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave. Please enter this game the correct way."

"Game?" Midoya asked. "What game? What island is this?"

The man known as Razor looked at her for a long moment then regarded Kuroro and Pepeka with the same steely gaze. He blinked once and a look of bafflement came over his face. "You honestly don't know do you?" he said surprised. "You can't be drifters since the currents wouldn't have pushed you onto this island. I know you came here intentionally, and without knowing what this island is! This is a first, I must say." There was a pause and he added, "And you are powerful Nen-users too. Mind if I ask what this is about? How about an introduction?"

Midoya glanced over her shoulder at Kuroro who approached them, still dripping wet and thinking furiously. They needed information from this man, and it seemed in exchange they would have to reveal some information about themselves. "We can tell you," Kuroro finally said. "But in exchange, you will tell us about this island. For every question of yours we answer, you will answer one of ours."

"Deal," Razor agreed. "I'll start with an easy one. Names please?"

"Kuroro," Kuroro replied. "That's Pepeka, and this here is Midoya." Midoya nodded in greeting and Pepeka gave Razor the finger.

"Pleasure," Razor said. "Your turn."

"What is this island?" Kuroro asked.

Razor rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Greed Island," he finally replied. "It's a game for Nen-users."

Something jogged his memory. Kuroro frowned. He was certain he had heard that name before.

"My turn," Razor went on. "Why have you approached this island?"

"We are looking for a Jyonen-user," Midoya replied. "We received a tip in the form of a prophecy that we could find one east of our previous location. We set off in a boat and ended up here."

"Ho," Razor said, looking curious. "A Jyonen-user huh? Well, you might have come to the right place."

Kuroro hesitated. It was an obvious bait. "Why?" he asked.

Razor smiled. "Because only Nen-users can enter this game. There are currently thousands of players on this island. Possibly this is the one place with the highest concentration of Nen-users per square feet. If your prophecy is accurate, there's a good chance your Jyonen-user is right here on this island." He paused and then looked straight at Kuroro and asked, "How did you get that nasty thing in your heart?"

"It's a long story," Kuroro said reluctantly. "Someone who wanted revenge on me inflicted this… chain on me." Now it was his turn to set the obvious trap. The man, Razor, looked intrigued by the vague explanation. "Tell me, Razor, how does one get into this game the ah… _right_ way."

"By buying the game," Razor replied. "Why does this someone want revenge on you?"

"Because I killed his entire tribe," Kuroro said casually. He half-expected the man to look shocked, horrified or even disgusted. If anything, the man just looked curious.

"An entire tribe, huh?" Razor mused. "Well, it's not up to me to judge you." He folded his arms and looked at them. "Now, I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave," he said. "But, if you return using the appropriate route, you are more than welcome to participate in and enjoy the game. I'm afraid you, Kuroro, will have a bit of a problem doing that though." He smiled and pulled out a card from his pocket. Looking a little regretful he said, "This card will eject you from this island. You will end up quite a distance from here, I'm afraid. But at least, you don't have to row that ridiculous boat back to wherever you came from." He smiled again. "Good luck."

Suddenly, a white light surrounded the three of them. The next thing Kuroro knew, they seemed to be shooting through the air at a disorientating speed. Then just as quickly, he felt the sensation of falling. Bracing himself, he bent his knees to absorb the impact. When it came, it was a lot lighter than he expected.

Still disorientated, he looked around a bit. Midoya and Pepeka had landed next to him, and neither appeared to be hurt. Glancing past them, he immediately realized that wherever Razor had sent them, it was not in the same part of the globe that they had been in previously. While Greed Island had beautiful lush forests, where they were now was just desert; miles and miles of sand, with what appeared to be some sort of settlement in the distance.

"Bastard!" Pepeka howled, kicking at the sand furiously. "Let's go back and kill that fucking bastard!"

"Soothe, Pepeka," Midoya said calmly. "There is a time for revenge, and there is a time for figuring out where the unpleasant young man sent us to. Now is the time for the latter." She stood up and attempted to brush the sand off her clothes. Unfortunately, the sand clung to her wet clothes like glue and refused to budge.

"Indeed," Kuroro agreed absently, deep in thought.

"What are you thinking about?" Midoya asked, noticing the look on his face.

"Greed Island," Kuroro replied. "I have heard that name somewhere before, and recently too, probably in York Shin." He frowned and added, "I believe I heard it from some members of the Ryodan, as a matter of fact."

"Ah." Midoya gave up brushing off her clothes. "Well then," she said, "it is time to implement Plan B."

"Yes," Kuroro agreed. "Contacting the Ryodan."

* * *

><p><span>AN: Thank you for reading! Hope you enjoyed it!

Trivia: The old fisherman Kuroro loaned the boat from _did_ teach Kuroro how to knit. He also taught Kuroro how to cook, clean, dance and sing. People always wonder how life is like in Meteor City, and what kind of education their residents receive. Now they know.


	5. Trust and Other Inconvenient Issues

A/N: This story is rated M for adult themes. The opinions of the characters do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the author. Also, the characters might be slightly OC in this chapter (even the OC, which is… weird). Sorry about that!

Thank you to all those who have read (and reviewed) this story!

I do not own Hunter X Hunter or any other mentioned literature/books in this story. 

* * *

><p><span>Trust and Other Inconvenient Issues <span>

Before that, they needed to get out of the desert. That had proved simple enough. A two hour trek led them to the human settlement they had spotted. It turned out to be a small frontier town run by an unpleasant man named 'Kruger'. Coincidentally, this 'Kruger' also owned a small but well-maintained blimp. In view of the fact that the Hunter Association was virtually unheard of in these parts of the world, Kuroro cheerfully murdered 'Kruger' to obtain the blimp.

That led to a different set of difficulties when it turned out Kruger was the head of a cult that worshipped clouds. That would have been all fine and well if the cult hadn't turned out to be the entire town's population. Unfortunately, instead of trying to kill Kuroro in revenge, the cult decided to adopt him as their new religious leader. That wouldn't have been a problem either if part of the initiation into the cult hadn't required a certain intimate act between the one to be initiated and a rather slimy-looking stone statue. At this point, to preserve his dignity and to avoid contracting inconvenient diseases, Kuroro had been forced to massacre the entire town. Just as well, now they could be a hundred percent certain that word of his association with the two Blacklist Hunters will never make it back to the Hunter's Association.

Besides, Kuroro had mused as he ripped off the head of a large, burly man with very bad teeth, it was all very therapeutic, this ripping and slashing and murdering. For too long now, he had suffered from a vague but nagging sense of helplessness and uselessness. A suitable cure to that was to kill off a bunch of people far weaker than he was, even in his Nen-less state. It was very pleasant to feel in control again.

Pepeka had been rather shocked at Kuroro's brutal acts of violence and protested loudly and righteously, until the townspeople decided _he_ was a suitable sacrifice to the god Cloud Shaped Like a Donkey. He had taken offence at that and, in an attempt to keep his innards _inside_, had joined in the general murder and mayham.

Midoya, on the other hand, had seemed rather blasé about the killing. Opting to sit out on the massacre, she had sat in a corner and watched, not bothering to kill anyone unless they attacked her first. By the time Kuroro and Pepeka were done, she had started to nod off, a severed hand lying on her lap where she had been fiddling with it absently.

After waking her up, they had then made their way to the blimp. There, Kuroro and Pepeka, using the excuse that 'Midoya is tired and should just go take a nap while _we_ fly' had sent Midoya off before she could cause another war and the extinction of more animal species. Then, it was the simple task of flying back to York Shin City.

There, they had decided against going to either Midoya's or Pepeka's apartment, just in case the apartments were still being watched. Instead, they had opted to find an abandoned building to stay in for the time being. Kuroro, being the connoisseur of abandoned building, a skill acquired from his time in the Ryodan, chose a dilapidated, obviously long forsaken building in the slumps. Despite their misgivings at the faulty piping, the horrid smell and the massive quantity of huge, aggressive rats, Midoya and Pepeka had bowed to Kuroro's expert opinion and went along with it.

Currently, both Kuroro and Midoya were resting in the building while Pepeka went out to get supplies and news.

"So," Midoya said, curling up on a piece of relatively dry cardboard they had salvaged from the closet in the back. "Our new objective now is to contact the Ryodan. That would prove rather… ah… difficult. You can't contact the Ryodan personally, of course and neither can I. The last time I met the Ryodan, we were enemies. It is unlikely they would choose to trust me. That, unfortunately, is the same for dear Pepeka, who is a total stranger to them."

"Yes," Kuroro said in response to Midoya's assessment. "The Ryodan members are known to kill first and ask questions later. It is, I must admit, a relatively flawed method for gathering information so I tend to clamp down on such activities. It is likely that without any intervention from me the more hot-headed members will attack either of you before you can convey your intentions to them."

"What a problem," Midoya said merrily. "You know your Ryodan the best, Kuroro, any ideas?"

Kuroro frowned in thought, hands clasped under his chin. "Not yet," he confessed. "I…" A sense of vertigo engulfed him abruptly. Kuroro paused in mid-sentence and coldly analyzed the sensations he was feeling. Systematically, he ticked them off: dizziness, weakness, fatigue. He was obviously exhausted, which was not surprising. From the moment he had encountered the chain-person, he had never ceased to be on the move. First contacting Midoya then meeting up with Pepeka, breaking into the Hunter's Association building and rowing to Greed Island. He hadn't had the time to stop and think, to stop and _rest_ and it was affecting his ability to think rationally.

"Kuroro?"

Almost jumping in surprise, Kuroro snapped out of his thoughts and realized that Midoya was staring at him intently. "Pardon me," he said calmly. "I was thinking."

Midoya nodded in reply. "Okay," she said. "What were you thinking of?"

For a long moment, Kuroro could not think of a good excuse that would fool her, so he said, "Nothing." He looked at her to gauge her reaction and found her lying on her back, staring at the ceiling of the church.

"I do that sometimes too," Midoya said softly, eyes closed. "Just lie back and think of nothing. It's relaxing."

Kuroro remained sitting at his seat, looking at her. She opened one eye and looked at him. A faint smile flittered over her face. "You know what your problem is sometimes?" she asked suddenly. Kuroro's eyebrows lifted in surprise. Midoya was probably the least… _invasive_ person he had ever met. She tended to adopt a "If you have a problem, it is _your_ problem. It does not concern me, so I shall not even notice it, much less talk about it" attitude, which he found both extremely appealing and extremely annoying at the same time. This was the first time she had ever mentioned a personal flaw of his.

"What?" he asked suspiciously.

"You think too much," Midoya said, as if she were talking about the weather. "Sometimes you over-think things when spontaneity would have been a better response. I suppose that doesn't make sense."

"It does make sense, but I just said I wasn't thinking of anything."

"When you lie, you have a tendency to lift your right eyebrow slightly and smile ever so faintly while your cheek muscles remain tensed."

Kuroro stiffened in his seat but forced himself to relax. "How did you..." he began before he stopped himself, frowning.

That brought a smile to her face. "You never lied to me when you were living at my place," she said, turning to lie on her stomach so she could look at him. "It's a bad habit of yours that only developed recently. Given how different your behavior is from the past, it's hard not to notice." Her face suddenly looked very serious, eyes staring at him intently but not unkindly. "You've changed a lot in two years."

Had he? Honestly, Kuroro hadn't noticed. But he supposed he wouldn't have. His self was not often a topic of his musings. Given how both his personality and motives have been called repeatedly into question these past few days, he supposed he should start doing more self-reflections. He just didn't like thinking about himself. It was such a boring topic.

"I suppose the question to ask now is: for better or for worse," he said dryly.

To his surprise (again), Midoya continued staring at him, her face solemn. As dark as her eyes were, they seemed to glow in the candlelight. "I don't think those are the only two options," she said finally. "I've changed in two years too. Have you not noticed?"

He had. She had grown quieter, yet more… he couldn't find the words for it. More emotional? More impatient? No, that wasn't it. She had grown less _still_. There had always been a sense of utter stillness about Midoya, where it seemed she could remain in the same position, in the same place, for days on end. Perhaps it was simply that they were on a mission together (the first for them), that she seemed a lot more active than usual. But that wasn't the biggest change. The biggest change was… "I don't click with you as well as we used to," he said, remembering how she would suddenly withdraw from him during what seemed like a perfectly normal, even friendly conversation.

"Yes," Midoya agreed, eyes still fixed on him. "I know why. Do you?"

That had Kuroro befuddled again. He wasn't exactly sure. "You tell me," he said finally.

"You don't trust me anymore." Midoya stopped, head tilted in thought and continued, "No, it is more accurate to say, you _can't_ trust me anymore. When we were just Midoya and Kuroro, strangers who met by chance in my apartment, it was… simple. Now, it's different. I am Blacklist Hunter Midoya and June Kito. I am your hired help, but I could also just as quickly turn into your enemy. And you! You are Kuroro Lucifer, Dancho of the Genei Ryodan, no longer just… Kuroro the hobo." She smiled. He had never seen her smile like that before. It looked… strange.

"I do trust you," Kuroro protested. "And you always knew I was the Dancho of the Genei Ryodan."

"You trust me to do my job," Midoya corrected. "You don't trust me to be loyal to you beyond my job, for a good reason." She paused and added, "And I did always know you were Dancho of the Genei Ryodan, yes."

"But it never mattered to you," Kuroro said, remembering her words to him when she found out who he was. "It never mattered until I found out you were June Kito."

"Indeed," Midoya said, her voice calm and philosophical. "You can trust your Ryodan, you can trust a tramp you meet on the street, you can even trust a strange woman down with dengue, but you could never trust a rich heiress, the kind of person you like to rob and murder. Lions don't associate with gazelles. Once you knew I was a gazelle, it was over."

"Perhaps. I agree that there is foundation to your argument," Kuroro agreed, though something about what she said did not sit right with him. He felt extraordinarily uncomfortable. Probing into the details of personal relationships always made him feel awkward. It helped that both of them were speaking very calmly, almost analytically, as if they were discussing someone else, but it was still highly unusual for Midoya of all people to bring up a topic like this. "Is there a moral to this story?" he asked warily.

"Nope," Midoya replied cheerfully. "Simply a session of self-reflection."

"Self-reflection?" Kuroro asked, eyebrow raised. "It seemed more like a reflection on me as opposed to you."

"It was," Midoya agreed. "But it was for the purposes of reflecting on myself."

"About what?" Kuroro asked, on the verge of exasperation. Midoya had gotten more and more difficult to predict, which was remarkable given how unpredictable she was in the first place.

At that Midoya smiled widely, stretching out on the cardboard. Dark curls fell over her acne-scarred face as she looked at him and replied, "To what degree _I_ trust _you_, of course."

Uncharacteristically, hesitation gripped Kuroro. He clasped his hands loosely together and leaned his elbows on his knees as he turned and looked Midoya straight in the eye. "And what was your conclusion?" he asked.

In response, she held out an arm, hand extended palm up. Smiling wryly, she replied, "I trust you, only as long as you pay me"

* * *

><p>As soon as Pepeka stepped back into the abandoned building, he knew immediately that something was wrong. Yes, on the surface, things seemed quite normal. Lucifer was sitting on a half-rotten bench reading something deep and philosophical, while Midoya-sensei was sprawled on her back reading something also deep and philosophical. They weren't talking, but that was usually the case. Sometimes Pepeka felt that they could read each other's minds the way they seemed to communicate just by looking at each other. Yet, despite the superficial appearance of normalcy, Pepeka knew something was off. He just couldn't put his finger on it. There was an… awkwardness in the air, a tension that he did not like.<p>

So, he tried to dispel it by being heartier and more cheerful than normal. "Sensei! Kuroro! I'm back!" he boomed, smiling so hard he thought his cheeks were going to tear open. "I got chocolate!" He held out the bar of sweet goodness towards Midoya-sensei. That woman _loved_ her chocolate.

"Thank you Pepeka," Midoya-sensei said, smiling faintly as she took the bar of chocolate from him. Then she _put it aside_. Pepeka tried to look like he hadn't notice.

"What news of the outside world do you bring?" Lucifer asked softly, eyes still focused on the book in front of him.

Pepeka cleared his throat. This man was always somewhat cold and aloof, but at that moment, Lucifer seemed even more distant and removed than usual. "Erm," he mumbled, shifting from foot to foot. "Let's see. Well, the Hunter's Association chose to drop any charges against you. Given that you didn't steal anything… that they know of, I mean. They figured they'll just let you go. No one wants to mess with Meteor City, I guess. Oh, and no one's watching you anymore, Midoya-sensei. I didn't understand much of what was going on, but it seemed something else's come up that's gotten everybody's attention. I have no idea what it is though. Something about ants, I think, but don't ask me what that means." He stopped and stared at Lucifer. The man's face was utterly blank. Was he always like this? No, the man wasn't exactly expressive, but his expression always had nuances to them that hinted very subtly at what he was thinking. The look he was wearing now was a poker face, and you don't do a fucking poker face unless you have something to hide. Shit, what the fuck had happened while he was gone?

"Is that all?" Lucifer asked, as if he didn't really care whether Pepeka answered or not.

"What? Erm… eh…" Pepeka spluttered, trying to think. He was sure he had something else to say…

"What about Greed Island?" Midoya-sensei asked helpfully.

"Oh yes!" Pepeka exclaimed, brightening up. "I found out about Greed Island! Turns out there's a shit load of information on this game on the Net. I mean, there's this billionaire who's been buying up all the game consoles, and he's offering a reward for anyone who can pass the game. The game really isn't hard to find; it's all over the auctions, and if we are willing to cough up some cash, we could probably get a console for ourselves."

"Perhaps." Lucifer said, still looking uninterested. What the fuck was the dude's problem? Wasn't this Greed Island important to him? That's where he would get his powers back! That's where the whole goal of this operation was!

"What the fuck happened?" Pepeka blurted out before he could stop himself. "Why the fuck are the two of you so fucking blue? I mean, we're finally making progress on this mission! What the fuck happened while I was gone?"

Instantly, he regretted letting his mouth run away with his brain. The temperature in the building seemed to drop several degrees as both Midoya-sensei and Lucifer turned and looked at him. They did not _glare_ at him. No, _glaring_ was for losers who needed to stuff their pants. People like Lucifer and Midoya-sensei didn't need to glare. They just needed to _look_ at him to make him feel like they were considering beating him to death with a spoon – a _very blunt spoon_.

"Hey," Pepeka tried to say as he backed off, hands raised in surrender. "Hey, come on. I'm just asking. I mean, seriously, the two of you… the atmosphere in here is like way intense." Oh god, he needed to shut his mouth now. "I just want to know what happened. I mean, I could make popsicles with the temperature in the room now." Oh god! What's wrong with his mouth! Shut up! "I mean, come on, if there's a problem, just say it, you know?" Oh lord, he was going to die, and he hadn't written a will yet.

"Pepe-chan," Midoya-sensei said pleasantly. "Hush."

_Oh lord she was pissed off_. "I'm trying," he told her, wishing he had thought to pee before returning to the abandoned building. He was two seconds away from wetting his pants.

"Try harder," she suggested kindly.

"I'm trying!" he squeaked. "I am! But it's just… the atmosphere in here is _really_ intense!" Hadn't he already said that? Why couldn't he stop repeating himself? Was he going to die because he couldn't stop fucking repeating himself?

Abruptly, Lucifer shut his book and stood up. Without a word, he strode out of the building. Pepeka rubbed sweat out of his eyes with shaking hands. Damn, that guy was obviously pissed off too. What the hell? Midoya-sensei had returned to her book, face relaxed though her aura hummed with tension. Suddenly, Lucifer strode back in, a look of intense concentration on his face. Pepeka blinked nervously. He was really feeling out of his depth here.

"Your assessment was wrong," Lucifer said suddenly.

"Huh?" Pepeka asked eloquently.

"Be quiet," Lucifer told him not unkindly then turned to Midoya-sensei, who was looking coldly up at him. "Your assessment was wrong," he said to her. His voice sounded monotonous, like he was stating a fact. Instinctively, Pepeka felt that the guy was fuming inside.

"Which part of my assessment?" Midoya-sensei asked. She sounded idly curious. Pepeka's instincts screamed at him to duck because sensei was definitely in the mood to beat people to death with small, blunt objects like a spoon – a blunt spoon – a blunt _plastic_ spoon.

"Some of it," Lucifer said in reply to Midoya-sensei's question. "My motives for doing things, I am not used to assessing them, but I know you have them wrong."

"Does it bother you that I do?" Midoya-sensei asked pleasantly. Pepeka dodged behind a stone pillar immediately.

"Yes," Lucifer said. Now he sounded puzzled. "Yes it does."

"Why?"

"Because you have read me inaccurately."

"When has that ever bothered you, what people think about you?"

"Now it bothers me." Lucifer's hands were in his pockets, but his posture was tensed.

"Are you saying you do trust me?"

"No. You were right. I do not trust you to be loyal beyond the job. It is impractical and foolish to think you would be so."

"Indeed, I agree. What is the problem then?"

Instead of answering, Lucifer spun on his heels and started to pace about, head lowered in thought. Pepeka shrank further behind his shelter. They seemed to have forgotten about him, which was just as well. He was pretty certain he just peed in his pants.

By now, Midoya-sensei had climbed to her feet. She leaned on one foot, hands hanging loosely by her side. She looked nonchalant and very alert at the same time. "You have not answered my question, Kuroro," she said, smiling amiably.

"I do not know how to," Lucifer said, still pacing. "It is ridiculous. Why are we fighting? Pepeka, unfortunate as his intellectual level is, has reached this realization long before we have. For some reason, we are having an argument. Without realizing it, we have fallen into disagreement, and I do not even know what it is about! This is ridiculous and very detrimental to our mission."

"It is," Midoya-sensei agreed. "I agree with your assessment. We are fighting over something."

"Don't agree with me," Lucifer said suddenly. A brief look of annoyance flashed across his face. "For the oddest reason, it irritates me. Yes, I know it is irrational. We have established that. Before we clarify the reason behind this, you should refrain from agreeing with me so as to avoid a further increase in hostility between us."

"Now that's a paradox," Midoya-sensei said, looking amused and annoyed at the same time. "I have to agree with you on that in order to not agree with you. What do you propose we do about that, Kuroro?"

Lucifer paused in mid-stride and looked at her. He was definitely glaring now. Pepeka realized his mistake. People like Lucifer did not glare, not because glaring is for wimps, but because when they chose to glare, bad things happen, like massacres and genocides. Things that killed a lot of people in slow and painful ways. You don't just whip out a weapon like that on any old little fry. "I feel like you are deliberately antagonizing me," Lucifer said slowly.

"I do not believe I am," Midoya-sensei replied pleasantly.

"Are you disagreeing with me because you truly disagree with me, or because of our prior agreement to not agree with…" Lucifer broke off suddenly, a look of cold fury on his face. "You are impossible." His tone was frosty and humourless.

"As are you, _Dancho_."

Lucifer's fist moved so fast Pepeka was taken by surprise. Damn, even without his nen, that guy was some fighter. Shocked by the sudden outburst, Pepeka stepped out into the open instinctively to stop him. Then he immediately ducked back when Midoya-sensei's kick almost took off his head. Fortunately, he hadn't been the intended target or he would have been dead by now. A chunk of the pillar he was standing behind was the sacrifice instead.

Gulping, Pepeka peeked out from behind the pillar and watched them fight. Lucifer was stronger and taller, but Midoya-sensei was faster and more agile. It was a fairly even match. They swung at each other, fists, elbows, knees and feet blurring as they dealt out powerful blows at each other. Dust and debris clouded the air as they circled around, exchanging potentially fatal attacks.

"I am out of control," Lucifer said suddenly, voice and face calm even as his body launched fast, furious attacks at Midoya. "I do not believe I have experienced this before. I am beyond control. It seems I have been driven past my limits by the events of the past few days. I must be having what is commonly known as a 'meltdown', a result of a severe lack of sleep and proper nutrition, and the psychological strain of living without Nen."

"The past few days have been very tough on you," Midoya agreed sympathetically. "Not enough sleep, not enough food, and no time to think. Add that to the presence of a strange Nen in your body messing up your own Nen, and you would get a 'meltdown' even in the strongest of us all."

Pepeka eyed the exit and briefly considered making a break for it. A bench, flying past him and crashing to pieces against a wall changed his mind.

"Strange Nen messing up my Nen?" Lucifer asked, as a roundabout kick almost removed Midoya's head. "Pray, explain what you mean."

"I've been watching you with Gyo for a while," Midoya explained, fingers jabbing forward to remove Lucifer's eyes. He dodged, but just barely, and her fingers drew two long lines of blood from his cheek. Pepeka cringed in sympathy from the safety of his hiding place. "The weaker you become, physically, the more control the foreign Nen has of you. Given that the manifestation of Nen is influenced largely by the owner's personality, it seems that very subtly, and likely, harmlessly, the caster's personality might be influencing yours."

"Ah," Lucifer said, looking enlightened. "I see. You are suggesting that my current lack of emotional control is a consequence of the chain-person's Nen getting the better of me in my current exhausted state."

"Correct," Midoya said agreeably, grabbing Lucifer's arm and wrenching it into a rather unnatural angle. "I propose rest and some of the chocolate Pepeka obtained."

"But of course," Lucifer agreed. Pepeka looked at them hopefully at that but Lucifer added, "After I teach you a lesson, Midoya dearest." Grabbing her fingers, Lucifer yanked them violently and Midoya was forced to release him with a pained gasp.

"A lesson?" Midoya asked curiously. "About what?" She bounced suddenly off the walls, and landed on Lucifer's back, boring him to the ground. Pepeka squeaked in terror as they started wrestling on the floor.

"Only my Ryodan are allowed to address me as 'Dancho'," Lucifer informed her as he wrapped his arm around her neck and started to squeeze. "In this world, sweet Midoya, there is Us and there is Them. When you are among Us, we are absolutely loyal to each other. We will protect Us. We will die for Us. If you are Them, you are fair game. You are not Us. You can be betrayed, you can be robbed, you can be killed, and we wouldn't care because you are not one of Us." He grunted in surprise when Midoya twisted around suddenly and kneed him in the stomach. In an instant, she was the one strangling him.

"You mean to say that I belong to Them?" she asked agreeably, fingers digging into his throat.

From where he was, Pepeka saw an odd expression flash across Lucifer's face. He looked… angry? Confused? Perhaps both? It was a very unnatural expression on Lucifer's face. That man always looked like he knew what he was doing. Like, he always looked so… together, it was just weird seeing him look puzzled.

Gripping Midoya's hands, Lucifer tore them off his throat and flung her over his shoulder. Now he was on top of her, holding her down. "No. That's where your assessment was wrong," he said. "You are an anomaly. I do not trust you the way I trust my Ryodan. You are not loyal to me, and I am not loyal to you. I do not believe you will die for me just as I will not die for you."

"But?" Midoya asked, wriggling out from under him so they were both wrestling again, each trying to gain dominance.

"But I trust you," Lucifer said, and now he looked terribly confused again. Midoya took opportunity of his lapse to push him under so she was now holding him down.

"You just said you don't," she said, breathing hard.

"Yes, I don't. But I do," he told her.

"You are not making sense, Kuroro," Midoya said. Pepeka agreed with her (it's always safer to agree with the powerful person with the upper-hand).

"Unfortunately," Lucifer agreed. "I've never liked explaining myself… with speech. I'm not good at it." He had gone entirely limp, staring up at Midoya. Pepeka looked away; it seemed rather voyeuristic to be watching them now.

"You are an anomaly," Lucifer continued. "I trust you even as I don't. I expect you to be loyal to me, even when I know you can't be. I believe… I believe I want you to join the Ryodan." Pepeka's eyes snapped back to them, his jaw dropping with shock. Midoya-sensei looked as stunned as he felt.

"You _want me to join the Ryodan_?" she asked incredulously.

"Yes," Lucifer told her then, "No, that is not correct. At the moment, the Ryodan is too unstable to accept you as a member. I do not want you to join the Ryodan, not now at least. I believe I want you to be like the Ryodan." Both Pepeka and Midoya were now staring at him like he had grown an extra pair of head that looked exactly like Chairman Netero. Finally, Lucifer spoke again, his voice quiet and uncertain, "I cannot put my thoughts into words. I think… Clearly, I was annoyed when you said you did not trust me."

"It is foolish to trust you," Midoya reminded him gently. "When I first picked you up on my blimp, do you remember what you said to me? You were the first to say you do not trust me." Lucifer looked surprised.

"I did," Lucifer said slowly.

There was a long silence as Midoya-sensei continued to hold Lucifer down, while Lucifer just lay still with a thoughtful look on his face. Pepeka tried to see what was happening. Suddenly, Lucifer said, "You didn't let me touch you." Pepeka's eyes bulged out. When had that happened, and what the hell did 'touch' mean? "Not only that… you refused to sit next to me unless there were no other options," Lucifer went on, "you no longer discussed philosophy with me, you… you drew away from me when you would normally exhibit kindness even to your enemies. Because you saw me as Dancho of the Genei Ryodan, not as Kuroro. And I established that by saying I do not trust you."

"Yes," Midoya-sensei agreed gently.

Realization dawned over Lucifer's face and Midoya-sensei's lips suddenly quirked in a lopsided smile. Pepeka frowned in confusion, looking between the two. It seemed something had passed between them… it seemed like they had reached a sort of understanding… like, some big mystery had just been solved. Well, whatever it was, Pepeka was glad it was finally over. This fighting could not be good for their mission.

"Yes," Midoya-sensei repeated. "Yes, Kuroro. For people like us, trust is a luxury we give to a few; it is a gift more precious than love, mercy, justice or all the other things normal people talk about. When you said you do not trust me after calling me for help… You understand, don't you?"

"Perfectly," Lucifer murmured. "Now understand this, Midoya. I believe I know what is it that has upset me so let me express the thoughts in my mind now, the best I can. You are right. As Dancho of the Genei Ryodan, I cannot trust you, June Kito. But as Kuroro Lucifer, I desire you to trust me, Midoya, the way my Ryodan trusts me. Does that make sense?"

"You mean to say," Midoya-sensei said slowly, a look of annoyance on her face, "that you do not trust me yet you want me to trust you."

"Indeed," Lucifer replied, looking a lot happier. "You have put into words, a lot more succinctly, what I wanted to say."

"You are the most… self-centred man I know," Midoya-sensei said exasperatedly.

"Truly?" Lucifer asked, looking surprised.

"No, not really," Midoya-sensei admitted. "I have met some real bastards in my life, but you do rank pretty high up there. Now understand this, Lucifer. _I _desire to possess your trust too. I do not like being distrusted because I am not a traitor nor am I incompetent. If I said I will protect you, I _will_ protect you. You doubting my words made me extremely unhappy."

"Oh," Lucifer said, and now he looked bemused. "Well. This is going to be difficult. I wish to obtain your trust, but you do not trust me, and you wish to possess my trust yet I do not trust you. We have to do something about this." With a deft movement, he was suddenly the one holding Midoya-sensei down. Leaning over her, he said firmly, "We are going to teach each other to… trust." His face leaned closer and he murmured, "You need to trust me to let me kiss you. You need to believe that I will not slip poison into your mouth or rip out your tongue. Now, I'm going to kiss you and you are going to accept it." Then he kissed her.

Pepeka stood still, gaping openly. Oh god, he had to either punch Lucifer in the face or get the fuck out of here before he was scarred for life!

Midoya-sensei looked at him for a while then she started to laugh. "I see why people follow you, Kuroro," she said, her voice bubbling with amusement, annoyance and the slightest tinge of respect. "You make it so difficult to reject your demands." Then with a regretful look on her face, she added, "And if you had just said this earlier, Kuroro dearest, we would have been doing this a lot sooner." With a quick twist, Midoya-sensei was back on top, smiling a wicked little smile.

Pepeka swallowed hard. He had _never_ heard Midoya-sensei's voice sound like that! So breathy and… Oh shit! They were… they were… Oh shit, oh shit! Things were getting really, really…

"I should make you a Ryodan member after all," Lucifer was saying, his eyes glazed and his words slightly slurred, "Then the trust issue is gone. As your Dancho, you have to trust me, and as one of my legs, I have to trust you. It's perfect… Only now is not a good time… with the curse and all. Perhaps after…"

"You're not thinking clearly. Less talking, more kissing," Midoya-sensei ordered breathily. "And while you're at it, please take note that you need to trust me to let my mouth go near your throat. I am going to kiss your neck now and you are going to accept it. Brace yourself."

"Mmm… I am braced..."

Pepeka opened his mouth to remind them that he was still here, but the words died off when Midoya-sensei stopped holding Lucifer down and simply started… holding him. Wordlessly, Pepeka spun around and walked stiffly but quickly towards the exit. Punching Lucifer could wait. He needed to get out of here before he saw more of Lucifer than he ever wanted to see in his _oh lord_…

Too late.

* * *

><p><span>AN: This was a difficult scene to write in-character, but I hope I managed to deliver! Thanks for reading and remember to leave a review!

Trivia: This isn't the first time that Midoya had met a client who did not trust her. Given that the clients who could afford to hire Midoya are extremely rich and powerful, that is inevitable. After all, one does not become rich and powerful by trusting _mercenaries_. Midoya is vaguely aware of that, but if no one mentions it, she forgets. The last time one of her clients told her that he did not trust her was half a year before Midoya reunited with Kuroro. Up till now, her ex-client's successors are still trying to figure out what the hell happened to him that left his skull looking like _that_ and where the hell is the rest of his body. A year later, they found out and then wished they hadn't. (Subsequently, the successors quit being in the Mafia and joined an isolated convent in the Tribertian Mountains. Surely even the infamous Blacklist Hunter Midoya couldn't find them there… right?)

If Kuroro found out about this, he would have been very pleased to know that he was special enough to Midoya that she was willing to _talk_ about it rather than do disturbing things to his skull. He would also make it point never to mention distrusting her ever again for the rest of his life; one can only push one's luck so far after all, and Kuroro quite liked having his skull remain the way it is now thank you very much.


	6. Where Various Forces Start to Move

A/N: This story is rated M for adult themes. The opinions of the characters do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the author.

Thank you to all those who have read (and reviewed) this story!

I do not own Hunter X Hunter or any other mentioned literature/books in this story. 

* * *

><p><span>Where Various Forces Start to Move<span>

A hot, passionate hour later, Kuroro made the decision that their trust in each other had been demonstrated adequately, and they really needed to stop now because his back couldn't take the strain anymore. With a great deal of reluctance, they had separated, but had agreed that trust is such a fragile thing, and if left alone can so easily turn to suspicion and doubt. Undoubtedly, they needed to work consistently and regularly on nurturing the trust between them. Kuroro's back protested that conclusion, but the rest of his body was greatly in favour of it. Expressing an uncharacteristic streak of democratic inclinations, Kuroro had decided the majority of his body wins. A second session of building trust was scheduled for the night.

For the moment, they needed to get back on track with the mission at hand: contacting the Ryodan. Fortunately, Kuroro had a brilliant mind and, in the midst of trust-building (at that narrow point just before rational thought dissolved entirely as his higher brain functions declined in efficiency), had come up with a plan.

"I have an idea," Kuroro announced around a mouthful of chocolate. "I know how to contact the Ryodan without violating the restrictions placed on me."

"Really?" Midoya murmured, still curled up next to him, chocolate in one hand and laptop in the other. He looked at her for a while, eyeing her legs which were short, plump, soft and very nice to touch. Then he realized that in order for him to see that much of her legs, she had to be naked. He looked again, just to double-check. Yes, she was still naked, as was he.

"You know, we should get dressed before Pepeka returns. For some reason, he seems very averse to seeing the naked body," he commented.

"The dear boy is already deeply scarred. I doubt anything else he sees will add significantly to his trauma," Midoya replied dismissively. "What is your brilliant idea?"

"Hisoka," Kuroro said, and smiled faintly at the look on her face.

"Hisoka? You mean the crazy killer who dresses like a clown, and who wants to kill you in highly sexually suggestive ways?" Midoya asked doubtfully.

"The very same," Kuroro said wryly, wiping chocolate off his mouth.

Midoya laughed a short, warm laugh. "I have to hear this," she said, eyes alight with amusement. "Pray, explain."

"It is really simple," Kuroro said. "I wonder why I hadn't thought of it before. Hisoka is the ideal candidate for contacting the Ryodan in many ways. First, I can convince him to help me. As you so eloquently put it, Hisoka would like to… fight me. The only way he can do that is if he helps me get rid of these foul Nen chains. That alone is reason enough for him to assist me. Second, Hisoka is well known to the Ryodan. If he encounters them, they will be able to understand why he is helping and what he is doing to help without him having to say a word. Thirdly, Hisoka is… brilliant. He is powerful, vicious, extraordinarily disturbing, but also highly intelligent. I do not doubt his ability to find the Jyonen-user and convince him or her to help me."

"Yes," Midoya said, looking thoughtful now. "Yes, I believe you are right, Kuroro. Most importantly, Kuroro, Hisoka is ideal because he _is_ a Nen-user."

Kuroro blinked in surprise. "Why is that important?" he asked.

Midoya turned the laptop to face him. On the screen was a news report. The headlines blared "BILLIONAIRE'S PRICELESS GAME STOLEN". "A really inaccurate headline since the game is hardly priceless," Midoya informed him with the careless dismissal of a very rich person. "What is interesting though is how the game was stolen." She ran her hand over the mouse and the screen scrolled down. "The police were baffled by the scene they found," she read. "The car was on fire and the body of the transporter was found ten feet away. His neck appears to have been broken by the perpetrator using his bare hands with a single twist. This is a feat that medical doctors claim is impossible, as human beings do not have the strength to snap the spinal cord in that manner." She stopped and looked at him, eyebrow raised. "I believe," she added, "that you mentioned some members of the Ryodan were interested in the game."

Kuroro looked at her, his brain working furiously. The excessive violence, the broken neck, the unnecessary arson… it was obviously the work of Phinx, most likely accompanied by Feitan. "I believe I am right," he said. "Yes, indeed. The Ryodan, some of them at least, are in Greed Island now. That is the best place to contact them, out of reach of the chain-person."

"Indeed," Midoya said, looking pleased. "All you need to do now is to obtain the game and contact Hisoka."

Which was an operation all on its own, Kuroro realized. With a sigh, he lay back down and looked at Midoya. She was laughing silently at some internal joke, undoubtedly at his expense. "It will be dangerous," he warned her.

"But of course," she agreed, her eyes glittering. "And fun."

"Yes," Kuroro said, smiling. "Fun."

He looked at her and briefly considered other things that were just as fun (like regaining trust in each other), but Pepeka had just walked in and was screaming bloody murder, which was extremely unpleasant. With another sigh, Kuroro pulled himself to his feet and started to pull on his clothes. "Start getting ready," he said calmly over Pepeka's horrified shrieks.

"Ready?" Pepeka screeched. "Ready for what?"

Kuroro smiled. "Tell me Pepeka," he said, "how much do you like magic shows and clowns?"

* * *

><p>Hisoka had always felt that he was a very misunderstood character. This was, by no means, something that bothered him greatly. It was merely an observation he had made about how people viewed him (which entertainer isn't concerned about how the public views them?). People always thought that he was some kind of sexual deviant, someone who indulged in pedophilia or necrophilia, but they were wrong. Yes, Hisoka could see how his actions could have led people to such an inaccurate assessment of him. He had a tendency to favour young children, but that was only because the potential of young Nen-users was always so exciting. He also liked dead bodies but only because dead bodies are really funny things if you think about it. No, Hisoka was not a pedophile or a necrophile; Hisoka was more of a pan-sexual. As long as it was physically possible, he was up for it.<p>

Of course, he drew a line at certain things. He just wasn't sure what those things were. More experimentation was called for, obviously.

Standing in the exquisitely decorated hotel room, Hisoka looked at himself in the mirror and carefully smoothed his hair back. His hair was still a bright orange, as it has been since the end of the Hunter Exam. It was getting boring. Perhaps he should consider changing the colour of his hair again. Should he try for green? Or a more subtle colour like purple?

His musings were interrupted by the sound of his phone ringing. Surprised, he looked at the buzzing object on the table. Not many people in the world had his phone number, and not many of them called him on a regular basis. He wondered if he could guess who the caller was just by listening to the voice. Without looking at the Caller ID, he picked up the call and drawled, "Hello?"

"_Ah. Hisoka. It's been a while."_ Oh. That was easy.

"How rare to get a call from you," Hisoka commented, already starting to feel bored. "What do you want? I must warn you beforehand that I am not interested in weak men, no matter how good they look without their shirt on."

There was a long silence on the other end before the voice said, _"I have a decidedly non-sexual proposal for you."_

"Ho? And what might that be?" Hisoka asked, only half-listening.

"_I have found a Jyonen-user, but I need your help getting to him. If you assist me and I successfully regain the ability to use my Nen, I will fight you, with my full power, to the death."_

Hisoka froze, his expression electrified. "To the… death?" he repeated, licking his lips.

"_To the death."_

Hisoka started to giggle. He could not help it. Subconsciously, he was aware that his giggles had become somewhat hysterical and that the neighbours would probably start complaining, but he did not care. He wanted to kill something now – desperately _needed_ to kill something now. The ugly old man living next door would do. "What a _delicious_ proposal, Kuroro," he moaned ecstatically. "Just what I would expect from you, my beautiful Kuroro."

"_I take it the proposal is acceptable to you then."_

"I cannot wait to cut you open and rub myself over the empty cavity that once held your intestines," Hisoka informed him breathlessly.

"_Excellent. We should meet in person." _The man sounded calm, even somewhat bored. Hisoka, on the other hand, was starting to hyperventilate with excitement.

"When? Where?" he panted. "I am free… no, not just free. My entire being is yours. Summon me wherever, whenever. I will be there. Only for you."

"_Ah. That is simple enough then. Two days from now, in York Shin City." _

"I can be there," Hisoka breathed.

"_Good. Contact me when you are in York Shin. I leave the choice for a meeting place up to you. I trust that is acceptable to you?" _

"Yes," Hisoka moaned. "Oh, yes."

"_Well then. Till we next meet."_

The phone went dead in his hands, and Hisoka let it drop as he slid to the floor, breathing hard. Finally, _finally_, he would get to fight Kuroro Lucifer. Goodness, he needed to find something suitable to wear. He tried to get to his feet but his knees felt weak. Giggling, he pressed his hands to his flushed face and took a deep breath. Evidently, he needed to calm down first.

Time to make a visit to the nice old man next door.

-break-

"Are you okay?" Midoya asked as Kuroro hung up, his expression tensed.

"Yes, quite," Kuroro replied calmly. Talking to Hisoka tended to have a negative effect on his composure… well, on most people's composures really. That man had the rare ability to sexually harass a person using only his voice. It was quite a remarkable talent, really. For all his good looks and natural charisma, Kuroro could never molest someone the way Hisoka does.

"So the only thing to do now is to acquire the game console," Midoya was saying. "I have a few ideas in mind, but as you are the client, I feel I should ask you first. Is there any particular method you wish to use to obtain it?"

"I would prefer to steal a console, really," Kuroro said dryly. "For a good many reasons, not least to maintain my reputation as the head of a respectable bandit organization."

"You are worried about the billionaire, Battara," Midoya stated.

"Very," Kuroro replied, frowning deeply. "That man has immense resources and finances, and is undoubtedly determined to use them to obtain each and every console. If we were to compete with him during the auctions, we will not succeed. I am afraid that we will have to steal a console at this rate. The problem with stealing a console is that if either you or Pepeka get seen, our ah… gig would be up. The Hunter Association will undoubtedly try to hunt the both of you down and I will be left with Hisoka… _alone_."

"We may not come to that yet," Midoya told him. Looking around the dilapidated room, she called, "Pepeka! Come on out now!"

There was a tensed moment then Pepeka came creeping down from the rafters. It was a good hiding place and Pepeka's Zetsu was beautifully mastered. Kuroro would never have known the man was up there if he hadn't caught sight of Pepeka's shirt-tails hanging off the rafters in plain sight of anyone looking up.

"What were you doing up there?" Kuroro asked curiously.

Pepeka turned a bright red and glared at him furiously. "I saw you guys having… having…"

"Sex?" Midoya suggested.

"Yes that!" Pepeka squeaked, flustered. "How the hell do you expect me to just walk back in and… sit… with… I mean… I can't just walk back in like nothing happened!"

"Why not?" Kuroro asked, confused. He turned to Midoya for an explanation but she looked equally puzzled.

"Dude! I know how you look like naked now! Sheesh!" Pepeka grumbled. "Never mind! Forget about it!" He folded his arms and huffed sullenly.

"Well, if there isn't a problem," Kuroro said slowly, "Midoya. It seems you have a plan."

"Yes," Midoya said agreeably. "One that I am afraid, I will have to carry out myself."

"But why?" Pepeka asked, still obviously agitated. "It's dangerous!"

"Very," Midoya said solemnly. "But I will be well protected." She met Kuroro's eyes, and he saw that they were glittering gleefully.

"You have a way of obtaining the console without stealing it." Kuroro touched a finger to his lip as understanding dawned on him. "June Kito."

"Precisely," Midoya said, smiling.

Pepeka's eyes darted between the two of them. "June Kito?" he asked, confused. "Who the fuck is June Kito?"

* * *

><p><span>AN: This is a very short chapter because I could not fit it properly into the previous chapter or the chapter that comes after. Apologies for that. BUT, on the bright side, I am posting the next chapter earlier, so please forgive me!

Trivia: Pepeka Timbal's aversion to seeing Kuroro Lucifer naked was not something Kuroro could understand fully. After all, Kuroro came from a place where clothing was scarce and tended to be torn in the most inconvenient of places. This has resulted in a distinct lack of concern for the decency and modesty of one's clothes amongst the residents of Meteor City. Hence, Kuroro tended to find Pepeka's emphasis on modesty rather bizarre.

Interestingly enough, Hisoka, like Kuroro and many of the Ryodan members that came from Meteor City, was not ashamed of or embarrassed by nudity. This had very little to do with his upbringing, and a lot to do with his fascination with the sensuality and fragility of the human body.

If Kuroro ever found out he had something in common with Hisoka, he would have been _very disturbed_.


	7. The Unnecessary History of June Kito

A/N: This story is rated M for adult themes. The opinions of the characters do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the author.

Thank you to all those who have read (and reviewed) this story!

I do not own Hunter X Hunter or any other mentioned literature/books in this story. 

* * *

><p><span>The Unnecessary History of June Kito<span>

The day Midoya June Kito was born, Mahou Kito tried to kill her. It wasn't that he hated the fact that his first born (only born, but he didn't know it then) child was female thus making her the first female heir to the Kito estate, a phenomenon that would have been unheard of just five years back. Nor did he wish to kill her because she caused her mother's death since she didn't (her mother, Miharu May Kito had a very easy pregnancy and delivery). In fact, Mahou Kito would never be able to say for certain why he found it necessary to toss the newborn baby into the washing machine and turn it on. All he had were vague memories of a sense of _rightness_ as he watched the tiny form tumbling about in a spin-cycle set on medium. That had faded fast enough, and he had pulled his baby from the washing machine frantically, wondering what fit of insanity had almost made him kill his first born.

Half a day after Midoya June Kito was born, Miharu May Kito took a leaf from her husband and tossed the baby into an oven. "The child is evil," the distressed woman had said, watching the maids pull the strangely silent and largely unharmed baby out. Barely an hour later, Miharu May Kito was nursing the baby at her breast and delightedly planning music lessons for her child. "She will be a brilliant musician, just like her great-grand aunt, Villua Kito," Miharu May Kito declared to the nanny. "I already know it."

Over a span of three years, Midoya June Kito did grow up to be a fairly accomplished musician, as far as toddlers go. The household was still bemused by the sudden inexplicable homicidal rage that almost ended her life, but they put it down to nerves. Sterility had struck all the members of Mahou Kito's generation, save himself. As a result, his daughter was the only child born to the Kito estate in thirty years. That made Midoya June Kito the richest toddler in the world, which granted her a life expectancy of oh, perhaps about five years. Maybe the stress of having to protect the fragile little thing had driven the Kitos to kill her.

Nevertheless, the staff all agreed that there was something extremely odd about the child.

Yes, the maids agreed, part of it was that she was an extraordinarily intelligent child. By the age of two, she could read, memorize and more remarkably, _understand_ poems by Shakespeare. By the age of three, the child had gotten so bored with her home tutor, who kept insisting on reading her nursery rhymes, that she had informed the tutor about the histories and social contexts of the rhymes. The tutor had quit on the spot and left the Kito mansion wailing about how she had unwittingly corrupted hundreds of innocent minds over the years. Undoubtedly, Midoya June Kito was a genius, and everyone knows geniuses are eccentric, which would explain why the child often came across as strange.

However, the staff confessed (only in the quietest of whispers), it went beyond that. It was the way the child was so… _still_. She only spoken when spoken to and only moved when asked to. Most of the time, the child just sat still staring. If left alone, the child could spend hours staring at objects: vases, tables, chairs even people, as if there was something there that only she could see. Once, the nanny had asked her what she was staring at. The child, thumb in mouth, had replied, "Glow".

Subsequently, the child was sent to numerous doctors at the orders of her panicked parents. Put through test after test, subjected to injection after injection, forced to take drug after drug, for the first time at the age of seven, the child expressed signs of distress. "You're hurting me, Mummy. You're hurting me 'cause you think I'm crazy," she accused her weeping mother coolly, short, stubby limbs held down by straps to the bed, "You think I'm crazy but I'm not. You are glowing, Mummy. I can see you glowing. Everything is glowing."

"Nothing is glowing! I know you are only lying! Stop lying!" Miharu May Kito had screamed. "Stop pretending to be insane!"

Out of his depth and with his wife hysterical and panicked, Mahou Kito had begged his mother, April Kito to help care for the child. The moment the elderly woman had walked into the room, the child had looked at her with those blank black eyes and said, "Granny, you're gonna die. Your glow's fading. Means you're gonna die. I'm sorry for that. Goodbye." Six hours later, April Kito suffered a fatal heart attack. She was only sixty.

That night, Mahou Kito held a pillow to his daughter's tiny face until she stopped breathing. A nurse on night patrol found the limp body shortly after and revived it. (Mahou Kito had the nurse assassinated later.)

The following night, Mahou Kito returned to his daughter's bed, a gun in hand, determined to end the life he had created. He had walked into the room, gun hidden behind him, and looked at his daughter straight in the eye before telling her how much he loved her.

"No you don't. You tried to kill me, Daddy," the little girl stated solemnly, her eyes dry and calm. "I can see in your glow that you hate me. You wish I were never born."

The gun clattered onto the ground and Mahou Kito walked out without saying another word. That would be the last he would see of his daughter.

Midoya June Kito would remain in that room for another three years until one day, her uncle came into her room with three large, surly men. "Your parents are dead," he told her. "I killed them, as I am going to kill you now."

"No you're not," the child replied and shot all four men with the gun her father had tried to kill her with. It was her first kill. When the nurses found her later, she was sitting on her bed, gun in hand, studying the dead bodies calmly. As frightened as they were, the nurses knew the drill. No cops. No laws. They called the Kito family lawyer instead who decided the best thing to do was to bring the heir of the Kito estate back to the Kito mansion.

Hence, at the age of ten, Midoya June Kito returned to the Kito mansion as head of the Kito estate. There to everyone's surprise, she proved to be a lively socialite and an astute businessperson. People liked her. She was charming, witty, charismatic and wise beyond her age. People also liked doing business with her. Very quickly, the coffers of the Kito estate swelled as she successfully executed business scheme after business scheme with both the mafia and legal organizations. Soon, the Kito estate was back to its full glory, and most agreed that it was thanks to Midoya June Kito. How well-adjusted the child was, people would said in wonder, given the tragedy that happened to her. How sweet and how smart! What a lovely child! _Everyone_ wanted a child like her.

The staff was mystified by the change, but was only too willing to accept a chattier, more _normal_ mistress. The only odd thing was that the mistress only responded to the name 'June' now. She even had her first name removed from all her personal documents. In a couple of months, people forgot she even had a first name.

At the age of twelve, June Kito vanished for half a year. The members of her household managed to keep word of it from reaching the rumour mill, but no matter what they did, they could not locate her. That was not surprising; June Kito had gone to take the Hunter Exam.

When asked during the first round of the exam why she wanted to be a Hunter, Midoya June Kito had paused thoughtfully then replied that she didn't in fact want to be a Hunter. When she had walked into the shady-looking grocery, she had just been trying to buy some milk. She certainly didn't know that 'banana-flavoured milk, chilled and in a bottle' was the code word for accessing the Hunter Exam. Despite his annoyance at that answer, the examiner felt there was potential in the child and she was let through to the second round. Consequently, she passed all six rounds with flying colours, and became the only candidate to pass the Hunter exam that year. Later, when asked, she had confessed with an apologetic smile on her face that she had found the exam rather boring and could she please have some banana-flavoured milk now? (As a result of her comment, the Hunter Exams for the next six years were so tough no one passed them.)

The point at which Midoya June Kito's life turned around was when she was presented to Chairman Netero to receive her license. As the old man held out the card to her, he had been slightly puzzled at the way the young child's eyes fixed on him and not the license. "You glow really strangely. You're weird," the child said suddenly. It was the first time she had mentioned the glow in five years.

Instantly, Chairman Netero had replied, "It's called Nen, not 'glow', child", thus breaking the unspoken rule of the Hunter Exam for the first and last time in his life.

"Nen," the child mumbled, and Chairman Netero watched her eyes come alive suddenly with a passion and fierceness that delighted and worried him.

"What's your name?" he asked, putting a hand on her head. She was extraordinarily small for her age, and her head felt so fragile in his large, calloused hands.

"J… Midoya," the child replied.

"Well Midoya, come with me and I'll tell you all about Nen," he told the child.

"Okay," the child agreed.

Though June Kito returned to the Kito mansion half a year after she vanished with the bottle of banana-flavoured milk she had gone out to purchase, she continued to disappear sporadically for months on end. The staff put it down to the eccentricities of the rich. With so much money and time on her hand, of course a young lady like Madam Kito would want to travel the world a little. It was only to be expected.

No one noticed how those disappearances corresponded with the rise of the famous Blacklist Hunter Midoya.

* * *

><p>Midoya pressed the hair straightener to her hair carefully. Slowly, she ran it down the length of her hair and then lifted it away and examined her hair critically. As curly as her hair was, it was impossible for her to get her hair pin-straight, but she tried nonetheless – it was all part of turning into June Kito. In her mind, there was always a clear distinction. Midoya wore her hair, make-up and clothes differently from day to day, but June Kito always looked the same in her mind: straight hair that was always pulled back into a ponytail or a bun, flawless skin, subtle make-up and elegant, expensive clothes.<p>

Finally, Midoya put the hair straightener down, and pulled her hair into a bun. Done, she looked herself up and down in the cracked mirror she had salvaged from a pile of rubble. Clad in an expensive, tailored suit with her acne-scarred skin hidden by layers of foundation and concealer, expertly blended out, she looked very different from her usual self. That was good; she was meant to look different.

Movement at the doorway to the room she had claimed as her own caught her eye and she glanced over. Kuroro Lucifer stood there staring at her. Despite his weakened condition, he looked remarkably healthy. His pale skin was still marred by bruises and dark eye circles, but he still looked handsome and healthy and… delicious. The both of them were remarkably similar in many ways, but one big difference was that while Kuroro Lucifer tended to look like a supermodel even with half his face purpled with bruises, Midoya tended to look like the supermodel's ugly sister. Midoya checked his Nen with Gyo, a habit she had developed once she had heard about the Nen chains around his heart. His Nen remained the same, constricted to the barest layer around him, and swirling uneasily around the foreign Nen glowing from his chest.

"Are you really not going to tell us your plan?" Kuroro asked, leaning against the door frame.

"Hmm," Midoya hummed thoughtfully, sliding a pearl necklace around her neck. Kuroro stepped behind her and helped her fasten the clasp. "It's too complicated," she said finally. "It's a lot of… connections and arm-twisting and backstabbing. You know… politics."

"Politics," Kuroro repeated, sounding mildly disgusted. He stepped away and regarded her change in appearance. He didn't look particularly impressed, nor did he look particularly disapproving. Midoya wondered if he recognized it for what it was.

"Indeed," Midoya agreed, amused by his reaction to her words.

"I can guess what you intend to do," Kuroro said. "You intend to use June Kito's connections to the mafia, who run the auctions, to obtain a game console. That is a highly dangerous thing to do."

"Yes," Midoya replied, interested in how far he could accurately guess at her plans.

"The auctions are the way they are for a reason," Kuroro was saying. "They are important because they are the arenas in which the various mafia factions can show off their wealth. It is a ritual, and a very sacred one at that. To go behind the scenes, to use your status to obtain an auction item and thus bypassing the entire ritual of auctioning… that would be blasphemy in their eyes. They would come for you and kill you. Furthermore, the Hunter Association knows Midoya and June Kito are the same person. If they find out you obtained a game console…"

"It would not bother them," Midoya broke in. "So what if I want a game? Everyone knows I'm freaky that way."

"The mafia will ruin you still," Kuroro argued, his tone authoritative and firm. "Not even the Ten Godfathers were able to obtain an auction item that way."

"Perhaps," Midoya murmured.

Now Kuroro looked exasperated. Midoya always found Kuroro's expressions interesting. His face was by no means expressive the way Pepeka's was. In fact, to most people, his face would probably seem blank and emotionles. But, Midoya had learned to read his emotions and thoughts in the slight lift of the eyebrow, the faint curve of his lips, or even the slightest widening of his eyes. It was fascinating trying to read the man, fascinating and probably very dangerous.

"Relax, Kuroro," Midoya said cheerfully. "I have a plan that is as safe as it gets."

Kuroro eyed her with appraising eyes for a while then sighed. "Very well," he said. "Still, using June Kito's identity doesn't necessarily protect you, Midoya. And if you mess up, I have to work with Pepeka and Hisoka, _alone_."

Midoya had to smile at that. She liked how he thought of her as 'Midoya', not 'June Kito'. "Don't worry," she said, adding the finishing touches to her costume. "I'll be fine."

"It would help a lot if I knew where your confidence came from," Kuroro complained.

At that, Midoya laughed. "Dear Kuroro," she said, spinning around to face him. "I am Blacklist Hunter Midoya. I am June Kito. There is nothing on this earth I cannot do. Just sit here and wait, dear Kuroro. I will get you your console. Then you can have all the fun of explaining it to Hisoka."

"You do know how to make me feel better."

Midoya laughed again, sweeping up a pretty clutch purse as she headed for the exit. "Don't worry," she repeated. "I'll be fine." And why wouldn't she be? Her plan was so simple and so easy to carry out. All she needed now, was a nasty mafia boy…

* * *

><p>Humphrey Humbert Kahn II was feeling very pleased with himself. To explain the reason for this, one had to retrace the history of Humphrey Humbert Kahn back to his birth. As the second son of a relatively important mafia family in York Shin, he had no hopes of ever inheriting the family estate thanks to the tradition of male primogeniture. In such cases of course, one could always arrange for a tragic accident to befall the heir. Unfortunately, Humphrey Humbert Kahn II was also rather fond of his elder brother, who without complain bailed him out every time dear "H.H." accidentally strangled a whore or ran over little children. Hence, to the dismay of H.H. Kahn's pocket, fratricide was not in his future plans. The only other thing he could do was marry the rich daughter of another important mafia family. The best catch, all the second sons of mafia families (known collectively as the SS) agreed, was June Kito of the Kito family. Though she was technically not mafia, she did have connections with the mafia which made her honourary mafia. More importantly, she was rich and head of her family. Anyone marrying her would be, effectively, head of the Kito estate. That was a <em>lot<em> of estate. It was unfortunate that the dear lady was so plain-looking and fat, but hey, SS can't be choosers.

And that was the reason why H.H. Kahn II was feeling very pleased with himself. June Kito was notorious for refusing all her suitors to date, but _today_, she had summoned _him_ to her estate. That was unheard of in the history of the York Shin Mafia. Never had June Kito invited anyone to her mansion for a personal visit, much less a young man of marriageable age like himself. Evidently, at the age of twenty-seven, the rich June Kito had finally decided she needed to settle down and make babies, and he was being screened as a candidate for that.

That was no surprise. H.H. Kahn glanced at his reflection in a conveniently placed mirror and admired his aquiline nose, his noble chin and his perfectly coiffed hair. Of course the lady would approach him first; his superior genes, so majestically manifested in his appearance, were undoubtedly desirable to her. Smirking triumphantly to himself, H.H. Kahn wandered around the waiting room, examining the beautiful pieces of art on the walls and the case of priceless gems in a corner. Soon, all of these would be his. He could hardly wait.

Abruptly, the door to the waiting room opened and June Kito walked in looking the same as usual: boring hair, boring make-up and boring clothes. Startled, H.H. Kahn immediately drew himself into a noble pose: back straight, shoulders back and one hand on his hip. It was time to impress.

"Dear Lady," he greeted, bowing gallantly over her hand. "You do not know what a pleasure it is to be graced by your presence."

"Mr Kahn," she replied politely. "Thank you for coming at such short notice. Shall we speak in my office?"

"Yes, of course," H.H. Kahn replied, confused by the business-like tone in her voice. He followed after her as she strode into the inner office. To his dismay, the office was nothing like the waiting room. It was plain and functional and furnished with _cheap_ furniture. When he was head of the Kito estate, all this had to go.

June Kito sat down behind the desk and smiled at him. He smiled back, tilting his head to best display his strong jawline. "Now, Mr Kahn," she said. "Undoubtedly, you are wondering why I have requested your presence here today."

"Please call me Humphrey," H.H. Kahn said, smiling charmingly at her. "Just being able to see you have made me the happiest man on earth, and I was so ecstatic to see an invite from you that I could hardly care why you would summon me."

"You are very sweet," June Kito replied, smiling warmly. Kahn had to struggle to hide a smirk. Women were so easy to fool; a few words of flattery and they went all gaga over him. "If I may be frank with you… Humphrey?"

"Yes, dear lady," Humphrey said, turning smouldering eyes on her, "it would please me so much."

"Well, I have a bit of a favour to ask of you," June Kito said, still smiling. She had dimples. Had she always had dimples? Kahn had never noticed them before. "I am, as you surely know, something of a collector."

"Of course," Kahn replied. No, he hadn't known. What did she collect? Dolls? Stamps?

"A girl must have a hobby after all," June Kito went on. One hand reached up and started playing with the pearl pendant around her neck. It was a very girlish gesture, and _ay caramba_ was that pearl _huge_. Kahn tried to guess how much it cost. A hundred thousand zennis? A million?

"Indeed," Kahn agreed, still fascinated with the pearl. "I am something of a collector myself. I collect swords of all sorts. Ah, but that must be of no interest to a delicate young lady such as yourself. What do you collect, dear lady?"

"Body fluids," June Kito replied, smiling.

H.H. Kahn choked on his own saliva. Coughing vigorously, he clamped a silk handkerchief to his face and struggled to regain his composure. "B… body fluids?" he stammered.

"Blood, vomit, mucus… bile," June Kito confided, smile widening. "You will not believe how fascinated I am with them, Humphrey."

"Oh… how…" Kahn swallowed hard, "how… delightful." He rallied swiftly. "What a perfectly delightful hobby, my dead lady! You must show me your collection one day. It sounds absolutely fascinating."

"Indeed," June Kito said, leaning over the table to look at him. Kahn forced himself not to draw back from her. Her eyes were so… _black_. "And you see, here's where I need your help… Humphrey." He did not like how she was saying his name. If she wanted him to vomit in a jar…

"How?" he gulped.

Abruptly, she turned away from him and pulled a sheet of paper out of a folder. "I see here," she said, "that the Kahn family has suggested putting up several old items that have been in the family vault up for auction."

They had? Well, big brother would have be the one dealing with that, so Kahn wouldn't know anything about it. "Yes, of course," Kahn agreed.

"And I see here that a number of items have been suggested, but not confirmed," June Kito went on, "which means the items here are not technically auction items yet."

"Eh… yeah?" Truthfully, Kahn wasn't sure. If it said so on paper, it must be so.

"Oh Humphrey," June Kito said with a sudden passion, "Several of the items here are _body fluids_." She spun around, suddenly energized and started pacing. "I read off here that your family is suggesting auctioning the old family diary of Jlad the Serial Killer of Blackchapel, the knife Jlad used, and a collection of James Kahn IV's body fluids."

"Eh…" Kahn mumbled. Brother _had_ mentioned something about this. "Yes, I believe that is right."

June Kito's smile was really wide now. "Humphrey," she murmured. "I must see this collection. You will not believe how much I desire those body fluids." She was leaning towards him now, eyes half-lidded and cheeks flushed. "You will take me to see them, wouldn't you?"

Humphrey Humbert Kahn II swallowed hard. She was leaning so close to him! He could smell the perfume she was wearing, something warm and musky and expensive. Her eyes were so black, so very, very black. And she had a really nice bosom. Shakily, he wiped the perspiration off his high forehead.

"Yes," he replied, his voice raspy. "Yes, of course."

* * *

><p>And why shouldn't he, H.H. Kahn wondered, as he pulled his car into the Kahn estate, June Kito sitting in the passenger seat. What better way to impress the lady than to show her the magnificence that was the Kahn estate? Perhaps that was her goal all along, to actually see the Kahn estate. Perhaps she didn't know that it will never be his and expected to get this estate upon marriage. Well, what she didn't know wouldn't kill her.<p>

"And here we are, my lady," he said, opening her door with a flourish. "Welcome to the Kahn estate."

"Wonderful," June Kito murmured, sliding out with a grace he hadn't expected from such a plump woman. "What a beautiful mansion."

"Yes, isn't it?" Kahn said proudly. "The mansion itself was built a good four hundred years ago, but the west wing is new. It was built only recently, about ten years ago, but was designed so it fits perfectly with the old mansion."

"Beautiful," June Kito repeated, taking the hand he held out and wandering into the mansion. "Now where is this wonderful collection you are putting up for auction?"

"Oh. Erm…" Well, if the items came from the family vault, they would probably still be there. "This way, my lady."

Gallantly, he led her towards the stairs that led to the basement. "Careful, it is dark here," he warned her. If she fell and broke her neck, all his dreams of obtaining her estate would be lost forever.

"Indeed," June Kito agreed and descended without the slightest bit of caution, her steps firm and sure. H.H. Kahn followed nervously behind her, arms held out to catch her in case she fell. She didn't.

"And here is the family vault!" he declared once they reached the bottom. Quickly, he opened the heavy door and let her in. He was certain he wasn't supposed to allow outsiders in, but she wouldn't be an outsider for long anyway.

"Oh!" June Kito cried, her voice delighted. "Look at these beautiful jars! Oh! Those colours! Those textures!" Grinning broadly, she held out a jar of something beige and slimy. Evidently, she had found all that remained of James Kahn IV.

"Fascinating," H.H. Kahn agreed, staring. He had never seen those jars before and they were awful. Clenching his teeth, he looked away and tried to think of kittens.

June Kito flitted among the shelves, picking up jars at random and oohing and ahing happily. "Oh, this is delightful! Absolutely delightful!" she exclaimed. "Oh dear Humphrey, your ancestor had such _beautiful_ bile. Just look at this gorgeous greenish-yellow colour! And this texture! Look at how viscous it is, even after so many years! Can you imagine? This was once _in _your ancestor! And now it is out of him! Wouldn't you wish to have all your body fluids drained from you and put in jars after you are dead?"

"Of course," H.H. Kahn agreed, turning a greenish-yellow colour himself.

Suddenly, June Kito was in front of him, invading his personal space, her eyes glowing eerily in the dimly lit vault. "Dearest Humphrey," she murmured. "I _must_ have these." She held up two jars, one containing something transparent and bubbly, and another containing something that might have been red once but was now brown and black and… green.

"But… but I believe those are up for auction," Kahn managed to say through the wave of nausea shaking him.

"Oh, but they haven't been registered as auction items officially," she whispered, her breath hot against his skin. "Couldn't you just let me take them? Please?"

Oh god, he did want to give them to her, if only so she would stop holding them to his face. But he couldn't. If big brother found out he gave away their _ancestor's body fluids_ to secure a marriage, he would be so pissed. "I can't do that, I'm sorry," he whispered, swallowing hard.

A look of huge disappointment washed over June Kito's face and she backed off. "I would have been so happy too," she whispered, tears in her eyes.

Oh lord. "Oh my dearest lady," Kahn said hurriedly. "Please don't cry. Look, if you want to, you can come by anytime you like to admire these… these… fluids."

"But I wouldn't have it!" she cried, her voice filled with anguish. "No! I cannot stand to look at it if I cannot have it!" She shoved the jars violently into his arms and Kahn's arms closed around them instinctively. He shrieked in terror and shut his eyes immediately.

"Dearest lady…" he croaked, his arms weakening at the memory of centuries old _fluids _in his… oh god…he couldn't think while they were in his… oh god… oh god… What if he dropped them? What if he dropped them on his foot and the containers _broke_? Oh god… ohgodohgodohgod…! "Look…"

"Alas, I cannot bear this anymore," June Kito wept. "To stand in this beautiful room, to gaze at those gorgeous fluids, but to not be able to have them! And soon, I will forget how this room looked like, how these beautiful, glistening, moist fluids look like! No! I do not want to forget this place!" She turned to Kahn. "A memento," she whispered. "Please, let me have a memento from this place. Something that will not be missed." She looked around and then picked up a square box. "Does this still work?"

Kahn was forced to open his eyes to see what she was referring to. He remembered _that_. "No, it doesn't," he said, remembering the time he and brother had tried it out. No matter what they plugged into it, it just hadn't worked. It was just a stupid pile of wires.

"Well," June Kito was saying now, her face hopeful. "If it doesn't work, can I take it? Just so I can look at it and remember those beautiful jars of preserved bodily fluids?"

At that, Kahn remembered the jars in his arms. Another wave of nausea washed through him and he swallowed. He needed to get out of here now. "Yes, yes, just take it," he said hurriedly, struggling to put the jars down without breaking them. "Just take it. Let's go." Without waiting for her, he turned and ran out of the vault. Quickly, he retreated to a corner and threw up violently.

A few minutes later, he straightened up and wiped his mouth. Good lord, he could not believe he just lost his lunch in front of _June Kito_! Flushing with shame, he turned around and said, "Apologies my lady I…" then he paused and looked around in confusion.

June Kito was gone – as was the Greed Island console.

* * *

><p>Kuroro looked up from his book as the door opened. At the sight of the square package in her arms, he smiled faintly. "I see," he said, going back to his book, "so you succeeded."<p>

"But of course," Midoya said, smiling back. "Did you ever doubt my success?"

"A little," Kuroro confessed. "So, will you reveal how you did it now?"

"Umm," Midoya said thoughtfully. "Well, there were dealings with the mafia, torture, seduction, and some suggestion of a mutually beneficial marriage."

"Politics," Kuroro said with great distaste.

"Indeed," Midoya said, smiling at something that clearly amused her. "Well then, Kuroro," she said, setting the game console in front of him, "what now?"

"Now," Kuroro replied, flipping a page, "we wait for a serial murderer to contact us."

* * *

><p><span>AN: Here is the next chapter as promised! Hope you enjoyed it!

Minor Trivial: Humphrey Humbert Kahn's first and middle name, also known as H.H., is a reference to Humbert Humbert (H.H.) from _Lolita_, a novel by Vladrimir Nabokov. The reference is not a flattering or complimentary one.

Trivia: H.H. Kahn did, in the end, marry a rich daughter of a fairly important mafia family. She was very pretty, very sweet, very rich and she did not collect body fluids (Kahn hired a private detective to confirm that). On the night of their wedding, H.H. Kahn left his wife in the hotel room to roam the dark alleys of the city. He eventually found a nice young prostitute, enjoyed her services and then proceeded not to pay her. When the young woman protested, he pulled her hair, slapped her and insulted her dress. That, unfortunately, enraged the young woman (who already had an abusive father, abusive boyfriend and abusive pimp to deal with, and was really not in the mood to endure an abusive little cheat who really wasn't as good as she pretended he was). He was subsequently bludgeoned to death with a pair of high heels.

Given that H.H. Kahn had a reputation for using and discarding women, especially prostitutes, a great number of people found a good deal of poetic justice in this. Women gossiped about how his sweet widow was really lucky to be freed from a marriage to a prick. Men spoke with great horror about the way the heels were found lodged in a very sensitive part of Kahn's anatomy. Several men who had been 'Kahns' got their acts together and made it up to their wives. A group of teenagers did a spoof of Kahn's death and uploaded the video onto the Net (from there, they were taken in by a large production company and eventually became famous for making deep, heartfelt comedies for the big screen). A copycat killer produced a string of dead 'Kahns' over the span of a month; she was arrested, convicted of murder and presented an award for public service in the execution chamber prior to her hanging. Due to all these, H.H. Kahn's death would subsequently be crowned The Most Significant Death of the Century in York Shin.

When Midoya was told that H.H. Kahn, who had boasted for several months that 'that Kito broad is total patsy in my hands', was killed with a pair of high heels by an unknown prostitute, Midoya's response was a puzzled, "Who is that? Do I know him?" Upon being shown the autopsy pictures, she added, "Those are some nice heels. I wonder where she got them."


	8. Hisoka, Cowboys and Facial Hair

A/N: This story is rated M for adult themes. The opinions of the characters do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the author.

Thank you to all those who have read (and reviewed) this story!

I do not own Hunter X Hunter or any other mentioned literature/books in this story. 

* * *

><p><span>Hisoka, Cowboys and Facial Hair<span>

The call, when it came, came at the most inopportune of moments.

Pepeka Timbal had been sitting in the collectively-appointed shared space in the abandoned building brooding. At the moment, the shared space was empty because Midoya-sensei was in the bath (there was a shower at the local gym two blocks away) while Kuroro Lucifer was out doing evil, spidery things (there was a lovely diner near the local gym that sold the most delicious steak). That suited Pepeka Timbal perfectly; he had a lot on his mind, and didn't need anybody disturbing him while he thought.

It is an open secret that Pepeka had a serious crush on Midoya. He knew that everyone knew; everyone _but_ Midoya-sensei. As sharp and as smart as she was at some things (like murdering and hunting bounties and… and philosophy), she could be absolutely blind to others (like his feelings). Some people have made it a point of letting him know that they thought his crush on Midoya-sensei was just that – a _crush_. It was nothing more than puppy-love, a little boy's infatuation with an older woman (she was only five years older!). Pepeka had to admit that it was, in part, true. He was aware that he idolized Midoya-sensei. In his eyes, she was perfect in ways he _knew_ she wasn't. At the same time, Pepeka refused to believe that his feelings for her were just that.

That was the reason for Pepeka's brooding fit. He simply _wished_ he knew what was going on between Midoya-sensei and that Kuroro person. The first time he saw Kuroro, he had felt that there had been… _something_ between them. It wasn't because they were being all lovey-dovey and crap like that; it was simply because Kuroro was really quite like Midoya-sensei. They just seemed to fit so well together (Pepeka fumed at that and broke the stick in his hands in half). Then Kuroro had disappeared and Midoya-sensei said they had "been kind of together and were now kind of _not_ together", which didn't make no sense to Pepeka. Following that, Midoya-sensei turns up with that Kuroro at his doorstep, and they seemed to be just friends. Then they fought and had sex (Pepeka broke one half of the stick into another half). And now they seemed to be just friends again. Seriously, what the hell was going on? Were they in love or not? Pepeka just couldn't make sense out of it (the stick was now powder in his hands).

Besides, Pepeka didn't think Kuroro was good enough for Midoya-sensei. (Yes, he was aware people had said the same of him.) He had to admit that the man had a lot of merits. Kuroro Lucifer was smart, good-looking and rich (and, as rumour goes, could knit). However, he was also an evil, fiendish, scheming, bloody bastard of a criminal mastermind. If they let their guard down, he would stick them in the back.

In situations like this, Pepeka couldn't help wishing that Midoya-sensei had _some_ sense not to associate with the people who came crawling in through her windows. They were usually not nice people.

A sudden ringing interrupted his thoughts. Startled, Pepeka sat up straight and looked around. It wasn't his phone, so it had to be… oh. After a brief search through the rubble on the ground, he held up the offending object. _Kuroro Lucifer's_ phone. Eew.

Pepeka looked around hopefully but the evil criminal mastermind dude was still missing. Good lord, what the hell was he supposed to do now? Lucifer did mention that a call might be coming in, which might be important and… fuck. Hesitantly, he pressed the answer button. "Hello?" he mumbled.

"_Hello, my beautiful Kuroro,"_ a high-pitched but _definitely male_ voice purred. Pepeka shuddered violently. Oh god… that _voice_…

"Erm… this isn't…"

"_Hello? The connection must be bad. Awwww, I was looking forward to telling you how much I miss you. You cannot believe how much I am looking forward to meeting you again. Our last meeting was so unsatisfying, but this time…"_ the voice dropped suddenly to a sensual, seductive growl, _"but this time… we will make it good. We will make it last… forever… until I am drenched totally… absolutely in your life's essence."_

Pepeka's jaw dropped and he almost dropped the phone. Did this…? Did he…? Did…? He tried to speak, but his voice wouldn't come out.

"_Ah, my delicious fruit! You will not believe how much I long to pluck you! You, who are at the pinnacle of your power, you are the one I desire! Yes, we shall dance together soon, a hot, sweaty, passionate dance that will climax at the very peak of pleasure! The red string of fate draws us together, Kuroro, until we are so close… so… ahhhhh…"_ The voice ended with a high, reedy moan.

That was enough to jolt Pepeka out of his horrified shock. "Who the fuck are you?" he roared. "What the… what the… fuck? I mean, what the FUCK?"

"_Huh? Who is this?"_ the voice asked, sounding mystified.

"I asked you first, fucker!" Pepeka screamed. Damn, he never knew his ear canals could feel molested. "Who the fuck are you?"

"_This is odd. I am certain I dialed the number… This is definitely Kuroro Lucifer's phone and you are definitely not Kuroro Lucifer. How curious." _

"Shut the fuck up!" Pepeka shrieked. Was Kuroro cheating on Midoya-sensei with a man? Worse, was Kuroro cheating on Midoya-sensei with _this man_? "Now you better answer me, or I'm gonna… gonna…"

"_Gonna what? Continue shouting at me?" _the voice asked, sounding maliciously amused._ "Ah, I see. You must be Kuroro's new help. Ahhhh, you have no idea how jealous I am of you, to be able to be so close to Kuroro. Don't you wish you could just rip him open and… claim him as your own?" _

"Moth..." Pepeka's mouth clamped shut in mid curse as the phone was plucked out of his hand. He blinked, stared at his empty hand then stared up at the man looking down on him with a look of immense pity in his eyes.

"Kuroro," Kuroro said into the phone, ignoring Pepeka's wide-eyed, accusing stare. "Yes," he went on, in response to whoever was on the phone. "Yes. The 'Cowboy's Bar', at eight pm tonight. Very well. I shall see you there." He paused suddenly and looked at Pepeka calculatingly. "Yes," he finally said, "my new help will be there." Kuroro hung up and looked at Pepeka.

A shudder ran through Pepeka suddenly and he jumped to his feet. "What the fuck!" he screamed. "You're cheating on Midoya-sensei with a man? And a fucking pervert like that! I mean… my ears… my ears…"

"Sit down," Kuroro said firmly, putting one hand on Pepeka and guiding him back down onto a rotting bench. "Take deep breaths. That's right. Just take deep breaths…" Pepeka obeyed, breathing slowly until he stopped shaking.

"Who…?" he whimpered.

"That's Hisoka," Kuroro said sympathetically. "Don't worry; it's quite normal to feel this way after talking to him."

"But… but he… he said… he said…" Pepeka stammered and then was forced to stop before he started screaming.

"Yes, I know," Kuroro said soothingly. "Have a chocolate bar." Pepeka took the offered candy automatically and started eating. It _did_ make him feel better.

"So, Hisoka called," a female voice said. Pepeka belatedly realized it was Midoya-sensei.

"Indeed," Kuroro was saying, "he wants to meet at the Cowboy's Bar at eight pm tonight. He wishes to meet Pepeka too."

The candy dropped from his hands. "What the fuck?" Pepeka screeched, shooting to his feet. "Why does he want to meet me? And why the hell does he want to be covered in your _life's essence_?"

"Life's essence?" Midoya-sensei repeated. An odd look came over her face. Strangely enough to Pepeka, it looked like she was either about to burst into laughter or had bitten into a slice of lemon.

"That's Hisoka for you," Kuroro said dismissively. "And you, unfortunately, spiked his interest during the brief conversation with him. I would have liked to have spared you the horror, but the fates have conspired against us. You'll have to be there tonight."

"But…" Pepeka whimpered. Then he remembered that Midoya-sensei was watching, so he sucked it up and pretended it never happened.

"Fortunately," Kuroro went on, "Hisoka is unaware of your involvement in this, Midoya. That is good. The last time he saw you, he wanted to kill you. It would be ah… better for his concentration if he isn't made aware of your role in our mission… until it becomes necessary."

"Good idea," Midoya agreed. "Is anyone here familiar with this ah… Cowboy's Bar?" No one was, so Midoya said, "Well then, we should start getting ready early then. We wouldn't want to get lost in York Shin traffic."

"Indeed," Kuroro agreed.

Pepeka remained sitting down as they wandered off. Damn it, he did not want to meet the owner of that _revolting _voice. If he could make Pepeka feel this way over the phone, how would he be like in person? It was too horrible to comprehend. But wait! All might not be lost! What that… that… that… _thing_ said… about him and Kuroro… eew… But what he said! If Kuroro was cheating on Midoya-sensei… this was the time to find out.

So, with his mind set, Pepeka finally got up to prepare for the arduous task ahead of him. As he did, there was only one thought in his mind:

What the hell do you wear to a Cowboy's Bar?

* * *

><p>In the end, both Kuroro and Pepeka went with plain black. It was simpler and less likely to give out strange vibes that might give Hisoka the wrong impression. Turns out, it was just as well that they made that choice.<p>

At precisely a quarter to eight, Kuroro waltzed towards the entrance of the bar, senses already on the alert. That was why he noticed when Pepeka fell back behind him. "Pepeka?" he questioned without looking back.

"Kuroro! This bar is a…"

"I know," Kuroro replied dryly. "It's just as well Hisoka found out about you and not Midoya. Hurry."

Grumpily, Pepeka followed after him. "How is sensei supposed to infiltrate the bar anyway?" he whispered. "She would stand out in this crowd."

Subtly, Kuroro gestured towards a group with his head. "The people there look like women but are not," he said and walked into the bar. Pepeka stared at the group with his mouth opened for a while before one of the 'women' turned around and winked at him. The lovely lady would be quite attractive too, if she didn't have a beard. Horrified, Pepeka quickly scuttled into the bar after Kuroro, making sure to stay close this time. They were more 'women' in the bar. Midoya wouldn't stand out too much.

Pepeka took a good look around the bar. In truth, he realized, this was more of a club than a bar. The entire area was furnished like a stylized western saloon, but less dusty and grimy, and… raunchier. The 'cowboy' behind the bar was wearing a lot less clothes than Pepeka was comfortable seeing on a man and there were all sorts of long, pointy _phallic_ objects around. It was all very playful and cheeky, and all very jarring for Pepeka's stubbornly asserted heterosexuality.

Kuroro strode around the dance floor covered with gyrating, mostly-nude bodies, looking absolutely calm and unflappable. Pepeka followed, gaping at everything. Finally, Kuroro stopped by the bar and sat down. Immediately, Pepeka joined him, glancing nervously around. People kept looking in their direction and then looking away. "Do people think that we are…?" Pepeka's voice trailed off miserably.

"Yes, Pepeka," Kuroro said patiently. "It's better this way. Now no one's going to bother us. Now, focus. Watch out for Hisoka. Oh. Never mind. I see him."

Pepeka turned to look and then let out an undignified squeak of horrified disbelief.

Hisoka looked different from the last time Kuroro had seen him. His hair was still a bright, hideous orange, but instead of defying gravity as it usually did, it hung down over his face, giving him the illusion of normalcy. This illusion was then promptly destroyed by the cowboy costume he was wearing. Kuroro was certain real cowboys never wore pants that tight. He was also certain real cowboys did not dance around metal poles, rolling their hips in very suggestive manners.

Spinning around the pole with an organic, animalistic grace, Hisoka's eyes suddenly flickered towards them. He smiled widely and licked his lips before bending in a manner that suggested he had joints in areas normal humans didn't. Finally, Hisoka made one last twirl before he hopped off the stage and made straight for them, eyes glittering with anticipation and lust.

"Hisoka," Kuroro greeted coolly, with the briefest nod of his head.

"Kuroro," Hisoka replied and then reached out and grabbed Kuroro in between the legs.

Kuroro froze immediately, face turning into a blank, cold glacier while Pepeka squeaked out something loud and coarse. Hisoka's face split into a wide smile.

"Oh good," Hisoka said, purring happily. "The rumours are false."

"Rumours?" Kuroro questioned, his voice calm and bored.

"That Blacklist Hunter Midoya had torn out your family jewels with her teeth, boiled them in the blood drained from the wound and forced you to consume the concoction," Hisoka replied, giggling. "I'm so happy this turned out to be false. I would be devastated if someone else did that to you before I do. No indeed, I insist that I be the one to rip out your delicious manhood with my own teeth."

"Charming," Kuroro said coolly. "Now, let go of me."

Giggling, Hisoka complied and Pepeka stopped squeaking enough to say, "_Manhood_' in a voice filled with trauma and anguish.

"And who is the lovely fruit behind you?" Hisoka went on, ignoring Kuroro's frosty stare. "Ah, you must be the startling loud man who was shouting at me over Kuroro's phone. You are…?"

"Pepeka," Pepeka managed to say without cringing.

"Pleasure," Hisoka purred, making the word sound like a threat and a promise. "You look delicious."

"What?" Pepeka asked, startled.

"It's a compliment," Hisoka informed him, tongue flicking out between his teeth. "You look absolutely delicious. I would love to pluck you out and feast on you until you are nothing but a pile of beautiful, white bones."

"What the…!"

"But really now, it is only polite to return a compliment. How do you think I look?" Hisoka asked, turning a full circle so they could get a good look at his outfit.

"You look fucked up," Pepeka grounded out bravely.

That caused Hisoka to break out into laughter. Holding a hand to his mouth, he leaned against the bar counter, eyes gleaming with malicious delight. "Oh, this is wonderful. The energy and passion of youth is always so endearing," he sighed happily. "But now, we deviate from our purpose here. Tell me Kuroro, what do you need from me?"

At that, Kuroro held his finger to his lips. "I can't say," he said mockingly, deliberately imitating Hisoka's words when he had pretended to be under the chain-person's control.

Hisoka's face split in a wide grin. "I see that a little guess work is needed on my part. What could you need from me that you could not speak about? Perhaps you wish me to check up on how my sweetest Machi has been faring," he drawled. "Ah, dear Machi, how I've missed her. So beautiful, so strong, so… _icy_." His smile widened at the wary look on Kuroro's face. "Ah, you have such little faith in me," he said mournfully. "All I want to do is take her out to dinner."

Kuroro remained silent while Pepeka sat absolutely still though his eyes darted rapidly between the two men. "On an entirely separate note," Kuroro finally said, "do you like video games, Hisoka?"

For the briefest second, Hisoka looked puzzled. Then cautiously, he replied, "No. I am not very good at them."

"Oh?" Kuroro murmured.

"Too little human contact," Hisoka explained, looking devastated. "And blood, and guts and all the things that I like about killing people. I honestly do not see the fun in pressing a button repeatedly to see a series of pixels exploding in a series of more pixels."

"Ah, then I have the perfect game for you," Kuroro said, smiling faintly. "Have you heard of Greed Island?"

"Perhaps I have, from some ah… mutual friends."

"It is a game for nen-users," Kuroro explained. "I have heard that the player enters the game fully and is transported onto an island directly east of York Shin that has been isolated from the rest of the world by powerful Nen-users to create the world of Greed Island. It is, I have heard, an absolutely fascinating game – with plenty of human contact. I also happen to have one of the game consoles."

"Ho?" Hisoka drawled. "Interesting."

"Unfortunately," Kuroro continued, "in my ah… current state, my possession of this game is absolutely pointless. Perhaps I should just give it away."

"Hmm," Hisoka purred. "Wouldn't the stunning young stud next to you be able to use it? Or perhaps, the other person sitting in the far corner of the bar?"

Time froze. Then Pepeka leapt to his feet, alarmed, ready to tackle Hisoka, no matter the price his soul would pay for it later. Kuroro glanced at him with a slight frown and Pepeka suddenly realized he had screwed up. "So," Hisoka said, amused, "there _is_ another follower of yours in this bar. I thought so. Tsk tsk, Kuroro. If we're going to be partners, you should let me meet the dream team, _all_ of the dream team, especially if they are as fascinating as dear little Pepeka here."

"Shit," Pepeka cursed, looking horrified. "I'm sorry! I…"

"I'm not," Hisoka said, laughing gleefully, looking around. "Where is this person? I must meet him. Normally, I would be able to sense a tail, but this person must be using the crowd to hide from me – like a wolf in sheep's skin hiding in the herd. Absolutely delicious! Tell him to come out now, Kuroro." Kuroro tried not to worry too much about how accurate Hisoka was in his assessment. He knew Midoya was in the crowd and he hadn't been able to sense her either. This man, Hisoka, was truly dangerous.

Whipping out his phone, he dialed Midoya's number and waited. Three rings later, he hung up. Two seconds later, Midoya dropped from the ceiling behind Hisoka, landing neatly behind the bar counter, a glass of wine in hand. "Hi," she said, smiling widely. Kuroro tried not to stare. She was wearing a very pretty black dress – and a fake moustache.

Hisoka's head whipped around and stared. Instantly, his aura swelled, blazing with an odd, pulsating glare as he started to breathe hard. "_You_," he whispered, eyes wide, tongue practically hanging out. "I remember you. Ying. Yang. The laundry room. The facial hair is new."

"Yes, and I remember you," Midoya replied calmly. "The hair, the eyes, the… drool."

Shifting slowly, Hisoka leaned over the counter with a disturbingly organic, fluid movement until his face was but an inch from Midoya's. "I want to rip your throat out so bad," he panted, body quivering with unreleased tension. "I want to rip your throat out with my teeth _so bad_…"

"Hisoka," Kuroro interrupted, his voice low and urgent, "you have two choices now."

"I'm listening," Hisoka hissed, eyes still fixed on Midoya, who simply smiled back at him like they were having a pleasant conversation in a cafe.

"Choice number one," Kuroro said, lifting one finger. "You can fight Midoya now, break your promise to help me and thus forever lose the chance to fight me."

Hisoka's eyes flicked towards him, glowing heatedly with uncontrollable lust and rage. "Or?" he breathed, tongue wetting his lips.

"Or," Kuroro continued, raising another finger, "you can back off for now. Assist me in breaking the chain-person's curse and thus earn your chance to fight me first. After that you will have more than enough opportunities to fight both Midoya and me as well."

Hisoka made an angry sound, a cross between a serpent's hiss and a tiger's growl. His aura intensified unbearably and Pepeka turned his head away, trying to breathe through the hot energy pouring over them like boiling lava.

"Your choice, Hisoka," Kuroro said coolly, appearing unconcerned with the murderous aura that was threatening to suffocate him in his defenseless state.

Finally, with a deep, regretful sigh, Hisoka pushed himself off the counter and arched his back in a long, leonine stretch. His aura dimmed until it became a thin layer, shimmering restlessly around his body. "Of course," he said finally, his breathing controlled though his eyes still glowed eerily. "Of course. Help first, fight later. Yes. That's good. The pleasure must reach the peak for it to be… _good_."

"Excellent," Kuroro said cheerfully as Pepeka finally breathed out a deep sigh of relief from behind him. "So you are in, Hisoka?"

"Yes," Hisoka replied, face still tilted towards the ceiling. His eyes suddenly focused, and he stared hard at the three of them. "Yes, I am in, on one condition, other than the promised fight with you, Kuroro."

"What's that?"

Smirking, Hisoka leaned back over the counter and looked Midoya in the eye, "That Miss Midoya here goes on a date with me."

There was a long silence as Pepeka gaped in shock and Kuroro stood frozen to the spot. It was Midoya, who finally said, with a great deal of good cheer in her voice, "Sure. Deal. Welcome to the club."

* * *

><p>All things considered, Kuroro mused, the meeting with Hisoka went as well as it could. Hisoka had agreed to help them with only the barest of molestation, no one got killed, and no one other than Pepeka got traumatized too badly. It was, he felt, as big a success as one could expect when engaging with a man as unpredictable and as disturbing as Hisoka.<p>

"Don't you think so?" he said aloud to Pepeka, who was walking beside him.

"Think what?" Pepeka asked distractedly, glaring daggers at something in front of them. A quick glance confirmed that Pepeka was currently glaring at Hisoka and Midoya, who were engaged in an animated discussion about the merits of using gel eyeliner as opposed to pencil eyeliners when it came to face art.

"I was merely saying that so far, our operation has experienced success after success, other than the rather unnecessary attack on the Hunter Association HQ," Kuroro said patiently.

"Yeah, yeah," Pepeka said sullenly. "Can you imagine the nerve of that man?"

"Man? I presume you mean Hisoka?"

"Yeah, I mean, first that dude was all over you then he was all over Midoya-sensei and talking about ripping her throat out. And _now_, he's talking to her like they're best friends and going on a _date_ with her," Pepeka growled.

"You sound upset," Kuroro noted. "I, on the other hand, am very pleased that they are getting along. It is much easier to work together when Hisoka isn't trying to kill anybody. I would know that. When Hisoka first joined the Ryodan, it was hell trying to get him to stop trying to kill people. In the end, it was Machi who threw down with him, tied him up and left him dangling from our base for three days straight. He stopped after that, but only because, I suspect, he developed a huge crush on Machi. At any rate, I am glad we didn't have to tie Hisoka up just to convince him to play nice. Things are fine the way they are now."

"Are you fucking serious?" Pepeka hissed. "Look at them!" Both men turned to look. Midoya's face was tiled back and she was pointing towards her eyelashes. Hisoka's face was inches from hers, looking into her eyes and leering. "That dude is practically kissing her!"

"And yet Midoya looks so calm," Kuroro said, bemused. That woman must have nerves of steel to be able to stand so close to Hisoka without having a nervous breakdown. Such courage in the face of adversity was truly to be admired.

"That's not the point," Pepeka grumbled. "The point is, that dude's making the move on Midoya-sensei! He's practically molesting her!"

"Is he?" Kuroro asked curiously. As far as he could tell, Hisoka seemed mostly interested in Midoya's eyelashes. Well, they were the one conventionally beautiful thing about her generally plain, scarred face, given how long and dark they were. He wouldn't put it past Hisoka to want to tear them out of Midoya's eyelids just so he could have them. "I think they are talking about mascaras, Pepeka."

"That's what they're _talking_ about," Pepeka argued. "Look at how close he is to her! Look at the way he keeps leaning towards her! Dude, he's totally putting the moves on her!"

"Well," Kuroro said, unconvinced, "even if he is, there's no need to get so upset. It's not personal. It is simply Hisoka's nature to make everything he does seem pornographic. Besides, Midoya did agree to go on a date with him."

"Dude!" Pepeka protested, looking annoyed. "Are you her boyfriend or not? How can you not be upset when another man's trying to suck her face?"

"I have always detested the terms 'boyfriend' and 'girlfriend'," Kuroro said dismissively. "It sounds so inappropriately juvenile for the kind of relationship that involves a fair bit of mature activity. And really now, Pepeka, if Midoya feels uncomfortable with Hisoka, she wouldn't let him be so close to her. Since she isn't protesting, she's probably fine with the way things are."

"What the fuck?" Pepeka exploded. "You mean you're fine with Hisoka messing around with Midoya-sensei? You'll be fine with it if Midoya-sensei decides to… to… to have… sex with that… freak?"

"She wouldn't," Kuroro said confidently.

"How do you know that? Hisoka's being a freaky pervert," Pepeka insisted. "Seriously! Look!"

Both men turned again to regard the pair. Hisoka had one hand on Midoya's shoulder, and he was leaning over to whisper in her ear. Suddenly, Hisoka's eyes darted towards them. A malicious smile spread over his face and he deliberately pressed his nose closer to Midoya's hair and, with a dramatic gesture, inhaled deeply. Pepeka growled, but Hisoka ignored him, his eyes fixed on Kuroro. Instantly, Kuroro realized that Hisoka was trying to figure out the relationship between him and Midoya. Somehow or other, Hisoka had sensed that there was more to their relationship than client and bodyguard and he was trying to provoke a reaction out of Kuroro. Kuroro smiled faintly at Hisoka then ignored him. It was startling how observant Hisoka was. He could not let his guard down in that man's presence.

"I should pound that freak's face into powder," Pepeka growled, hands clenching and unclenching.

"Relax, Pepeka," Kuroro said calmly. "Hisoka's just trying to get under your nerves."

"And he's using Midoya-sensei to do that!" Pepeka snarled. "That bastard! Dude, we seriously need to get rid of him! We can't let him use Midoya-sensei like that! What if he has sex with her just to…"

"Midoya is a grown woman, Pepeka," Kuroro said sternly. "You should trust her to do what is best for her. Have you forgotten the little disagreement Midoya and I had recently, and how much she hates being doubted? Look at Hisoka, Pepeka." Pepeka looked. "Do you see any person with a good amount of commonsense and a well-honed sense of self-preservation, like dear Midoya, having sex with a man who might potentially rip your head off in the midst of rough, bloody, _painful_ intercourse?"

Pepeka stared a while longer then his shoulders sagged. "You're right," he admitted grudgingly. "Midoya-sensei isn't that dumb."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Midoya said dryly from behind Pepeka and the young man shrieked in terror.

"Sensei! How did you get behind…" Pepeka spluttered, looking mortified.

"I _walked_ behind you," Midoya told him and Pepeka flushed a deep red. "Anyway," Midoya went on, "Hisoka and I are heading that way." She pointed towards across the road. "We're going out for dinner."

"Where?" Pepeka asked immediately, his tone suspicious and wary.

"Why do you want to know?" Hisoka purred from behind Midoya. "Are you interested in joining us? I've always felt that while three's a party, four's a marvelously decadent orgy."

"What the…!" Pepeka spluttered.

"Let's go," Kuroro told Pepeka, ignoring Hisoka who was snickering. "Enjoy your date," he added nicely to the other two.

"Of course," Midoya said pleasantly. "We'll see the both of you back at the base later."

"Later," Kuroro agreed and started to walk off. To his surprise, Pepeka followed him obediently.

They walked in silence for about ten minutes before Pepeka grabbed Kuroro's arm roughly, forcing him to a stop. "We should follow them," Pepeka said quietly. "We're far away enough now that they wouldn't notice if we start tailing them. Come on."

"Follow them?" Kuroro repeated. "Whatever for?"

"Don't you want to know what Hisoka is doing to Midoya-sensei now?" Pepeka asked wretchedly. "I mean, why the hell does he want to date Midoya-sensei anyway? He's only just met her! I mean… uh… why are you frowning like that, Lucifer?"

Kuroro pressed his fingers to his lips. "You are right, Pepeka," he said. "Rather, why didn't I think of it before? Why does Hisoka want to date Midoya? I sometimes get fooled by that crazy pervert persona Hisoka wears at times. As insane as that man comes across, he is also a very logical, rational, _sane_… person. As odd as it sounds when I put it that way. Why does he want to date Midoya? There can only be one reason, Pepeka. He wishes to get Midoya alone, away from us. Why?"

"Why?" Pepeka repeated, looking confused. "Because he wants to have sex with her?"

"No. Well, perhaps, but that would not be his primary goal," Kuroro said. "No. He wants something more. A fight? No, he would not risk losing the chance to fight me. It has to be information."

"About what?" Pepeka asked, still confused.

"I do not know," Kuroro said, eyes cold and focused. "That is the problem. You are right, Pepeka, we need to follow them. Unfortunately, in the state I am in now, I cannot do that."

"Oh right. I forgot. So?"

"You follow them, Pepeka," Kuroro said. "But stay a good distance away. Hisoka has the sixth sense of a wild beast. He will sense you if you get too close, regardless of whether you are using Zetsu or not. Stay at least fifty feet from them. I will be another hundred feet behind you. That should be a far enough distance that Hisoka wouldn't sense me. Keep me informed of their movements by phone."

"Okay," Pepeka said, obviously excited. "I'm on it."

"Go," Kuroro ordered and Pepeka took off, sliding into Zetsu as he did.

Grimly, Kuroro followed at a much slower pace. He had been too naïve to think getting Hisoka's help would be that easy. What was Hisoka up to now? Just what did he want with Midoya? It was alarming how he had chosen Midoya as his target. If Hisoka had been a less experienced predator, he would have chosen Pepeka, given how Pepeka was obviously the least experienced fighter present. Yet, he had noticed that despite Midoya's superior power to Pepeka she was also the one who was most likely to accidentally leak information to Hisoka because she was the one who was the least on guard around strange people like Hisoka. Somehow, Hisoko had caught on to that, and right now, without his Nen, Kuroro was helpless to do anything about the situation. He could only hope that whatever Hisoka was after, it was something harmless.

And how likely was that?

* * *

><p><span>AN: One day, I _will_ wear a fake moustache to school and walk around like it's not there. Hope you enjoyed this story!

Trivia: This wasn't the first time had Pepeka decided to follow Midoya when she went on a date. For a period of time, a couple of years before she first met Kuroro, Midoya had dated a rather dashing Hunter by the name of Nickel. From Pepeka's perspective, he never understood why Midoya-sensei would date a guy like that. Yes, Nickel was a fairly intelligent man, and he was very good-looking, but he was also obviously a sleaze-bag and a cheat. The Hunter's Association was always flying with rumours, and one of the rumours Pepeka had picked up, was how Nickel had once seduced the lonely wife of a very rich Hunter and then made off with all her savings. The lady, as the rumour goes, was so ashamed she hung herself. Knowing that, Pepeka felt it was his duty to protect Midoya-sensei from a crook like Nickel. In his defense, the Pepeka of later years would muse, at that point of time, he had been a young, inexperienced disciple with an appalling ignorance of how _fucking powerful_ his sensei was.

So, one day, he had followed Midoya-sensei when she and Nickel had gone on a date. He had followed them through an amusement park, a movie theatre, a brief pause in a dark and isolated alley (during which Pepeka had stared stonily into the distance with his fingers in his ears), and finally into the York Shin Goddess park. To his surprise, Midoya-sensei had then told Nickel that she was breaking up with him because she felt they didn't have much in common (it turns out she did not like amusement parks, did not like movie theatres, and did not like quickies in a dark and isolated alley; Pepeka, still full of hope then, had made sure to take very clear notes). Midoya-sensei had then told Nickel she was glad they had met, but she really felt they should move on and find people they were more compatible with. Pepeka was then further surprised, when Nickel, with a horrible scowl on his face, had grabbed Midoya-sensei's arm, declared only _he_ could decide when a relationship would end and threatened to do violent things to her of a sexual manner. Given that this was what he had been anticipating all day long, Pepeka had braced himself to jump in and save the day.

Just as Pepeka was about to pounce on Nickel and show him the consequences of picking on _Pepeka's_ Midoya-sensei, Midoya's arms blurred. One moment, Pepeka had been about to pounce on a man. The next moment, Pepeka found himself jumping on what could, with some imagination, some of squinting and a lot of glue, be considered a man-shaped object.

Pepeka had stared down at the thing beneath him then stared up at Midoya. Midoya had, in return, smiled kindly at him then produced a shovel out of her messenger bag and told him that since he was here, he was obviously skipping training and thus he might as well practice _Shu_ now while the park was still quiet.

Later, after Pepeka had patted the ground flat and brushed dirt off the seats of his pants, he had followed Midoya-sensei back to her penthouse for more training. On the way there, he had pondered about his arrogance in assuming she needed him to protect her. Now that Nickel was dead and Pepeka's brain was no longer crowded with thoughts of homicide, Pepeka realized that Midoya-sensei obviously had not become a One Star Hunter by sitting around and _collecting body fluids_. That didn't mean he was going to stop following her on dates though; Midoya-sensei might need him to practice his _Shu_ again.

Triva Within a Trivial: When Midoya told Kahn that she collected body fluids, she had only told a half-lie. In truth, Midoya had, for a brief period during her younger and more impressionable days, collected the body fluids of famous people (who may or may not be dead). She very quickly grew tired of it though once she realized that no matter the colour of the liquid, the viscosity of the liquid, or who the person who donated the liquid was, a bottle of bile was still a bottle of bile and it was so boring to look at.


	9. Interlude: Another Chapther That Doesn't

A/N: This story is rated M for adult themes. The opinions of the characters do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the author.

Thank you to all those who have read (and reviewed) this story!

I do not own Hunter X Hunter or any other mentioned literature/books in this story. 

* * *

><p><span>Interlude: Another Chapther That Doesn't Fit Nicely into Other Chapters<span>

Hisoka was curious beyond belief. It was not a common sensation for Hisoka, given that he barely took an interest in anyone who wasn't powerful. Yet here he was now, almost fidgeting with impatience as he struggled to make sense of things. Trust Kuroro Lucifer to be the one person in the world to whet his curiosity and appetite like that, though to be fair, what had first ignited this gnawing sensation within him was not Kuroro Lucifer, but dear little Pepeka. When he had first spoken to Pepeka on the phone after mistaking the young fruit for lovely Kuroro, he had been somewhat confused. Why was Kuroro's phone with this Pepeka? Why was Pepeka so upset about the way he was talking about Kuroro? And who on earth was Pepeka in the first place? It was all so deliciously befuddling that Hisoka had felt compelled to kill something. After satisfying his blood lust, his first instinct was to decide that whoever this loud-mouthed appetizer was, he was on intimate terms with Kuroro. Why else would he be answering Kuroro's phone?

To prove that hypothesis, he had changed the meeting place from a relatively decent, quiet bar to a gay club. (He had just bought a cowboy costume anyway, and was dying to try it out.) There, he had been somewhat confused yet again. Neither man expressed any interest in the proceedings of the place or with each other. If anything, the two men seemed to be rather distant from each other, as if they were only together because they _had_ to be together. Straightaway, Hisoka was certain a third party had to be involved; someone who had brought the two together, no doubt, to serve Kuroro's purpose of regaining the use of his Nen.

Of course, he was proven right by the appearance of Midoya June Kito. Now, _this_ was interesting. As far as he knew, the only time Kuroro had ever met Midoya was at June Kito's mansion, where Midoya claimed to be June Kito. If that was the truth, as Hisoka sensed it was, there was absolutely no reason or Midoya to be here working for Kuroro. Firstly, Kuroro had destroyed a large part of her mansion and almost got her killed. Yes, he was aware that the large resources behind the Kito estate had quickly fixed the mansion, but that was quite beside the point. The point is, they were enemies; one a rich heiress and hunter, and another, a band who specialized in killing rich heiresses and hunters. Secondly, whether as Blacklist Hunter Midoya or June Kito, this woman was filthy rich and powerful. She could have anything she wanted in the world. Even if Kuroro managed to hire her, what did Kuroro have to offer her that she could not get for herself? No, there was something else involved, something that fell outside the world of life and death, materialism and mutual back-scratching that Kuroro and Hisoka both inhabited. If that wasn't intriguing enough, Hisoka sensed that this Midoya woman was the key to a part of Kuroro Lucifer he desperately wanted to reach; the part inside the cold, hard core of evil intelligence, chilling irreverence for humanity and indifference towards the laws of the world that made Kuroro Lucifer infallible. It was not enough to defeat the man in battle; Hisoka wanted to _destroy_ him, to crack open that beautiful shell that is Kuroro Lucifer and feast on the soft, vulnerable flesh inside. The thought was enough to make him quiver with delicious anticipation.

"Is the food not to your liking?" a polite, feminine voice questioned.

"It is delicious," Hisoka replied immediately, pulling himself away from the wonderful image his mind had conjured of Kuroro Lucifer broken, torn… _vulnerable_.

"Well, you are awfully distracted for a man on a date," the same feminine voice commented without any trace of anger.

Finally fully back to reality, Hisoka looked across the table at the woman before him. Short, plump (in a rather pleasant matronly way) and scarred by acne, she looked quite the opposite of Kuroro Lucifer, who tended to turn heads even when dressed in rags and covered with dirt and blood. Yet, there was a calmness radiating from her that reminded him of Kuroro. He also remembered the beautiful battle between her and three of the Ryodan members. Ying. Yang. The wonderful laundry room. He licked his lips. It would _really_ be fun to fight her, but now was not the time. "You must accept my apologies," he murmured. "I was merely distracted by your beauty."

Midoya laughed. There was an odd tone in it that Hisoka only recognized after a minute, because it was not a sound he heard very often. It was confidence, genuine confidence based on a full awareness of one's prowess (Hisoka hastily repressed the shudder of pleasure that ran through him.) "Flattery only gets you so far when it is at least partially accurate," she said, eyes alight with amusement as she stroked her fake moustache dramatically.

Hisoka shrugged, a fluid motion that rolled his shoulders. "What can I say?" he said, unabashed that he had been caught in a lie. "I do want to have sex with you though. I've never had sex with a woman that can turn into acidic, poisonous mist before. The prospect is rather exciting."

"Wow, you like having your family jewels burnt off during sex?" Midoya replied, her tone dry and ironic.

"Maybe," Hisoka said truthfully. "I've never tried it before. You can keep the moustache on. I like it too." He briefly considered telling her his theory on his pan-sexuality and how more experimentation is called for, but remembered that he was the one who was supposed to be pumping her for information. Speaking of pumping, Hisoka was sure he could do some interesting things with her that involved… No. Not now. Not now, damn it. "How do you like your sex, Midoya?" he asked casually.

"I like sex that is like sex," she replied, popping a piece of bread in her mouth.

Ooh. A tough one. He _liked_ tough ones. "Men? Women? Animals? Inanimate objects? Computers?" he pushed.

"Preferably human," Midoya replied good-naturedly. Well, that was sort of an answer. Hisoka giggled. He really liked it when his prey played hard-to-get. The chase was just so… _exciting_.

"Like me?" Hisoka purred, primping a little. "Tall, muscular, male… _powerful_?"

"Male," Midoya said, smiling widely.

Hisoka purred with pleasure. At least he was getting somewhere. He wondered if she was being so reticent out of a natural tendency towards privacy or because she had caught on to him. Either way, she still appeared to be in a giving mood. The game was still on. "Ah, you are being so mysterious," he whined. "Come on. Tell me how you like your men."

"Medium rare," Midoya replied solemnly.

"What does that mean?" Hisoka continued, still doing an imitation of a kicked puppy. "You like them young? Like Pepeka perhaps?"

That made her laugh again. "No, not like Pepeka," she said, still laughing.

"Why not?" Hisoka asked in what he felt was a very reasonable tone. "He's your disciple isn't he? I heard him call you 'sensei'. Screwing him would make for some interesting lessons."

"But not particularly fruitful ones," Midoya replied dryly. Instantly, Hisoka sensed he was losing her good will. It _would_ be fun getting her riled up, but now was really not the time. Maybe later… if he could convince her to go to his room… but that was for later. For now, it was time to change the topic.

"How about Kuroro?" Hisoka asked slyly, in a 'just between us girls' voice. "If you ask me, Kuroro is the one man on earth I would like to screw."

"Oh?" she asked. Her face and voice were neutral, perhaps mildly curious at the most. If she was acting, she was a bloody brilliant actress. Speaking of blood… _no_, not the time! Bad Hisoka!

"Wouldn't you?" Hisoka pushed. "Want to screw Kuroro, I mean. He is male, hot, powerful… I love that his skin is so pale because then I can see his veins along his arms. It's like a sneak preview to what I can get if I get to screw him."

"Perhaps," Midoya replied thoughtfully. "He is interesting and really good-looking. Nice body too. It would be interesting and quite dangerous trying to screw him, I suppose." Was she avoiding the topic? He couldn't tell, which was fascinating and very thrilling, so much so he needed to cross his legs. This was not working. A more direct approach was called for.

"How did you meet Kuroro anyway?" he asked. "I mean, I know you met him when the Ryodan attacked the mansion, but how did you end up working with him?"

This time she took longer to reply. Hisoka watched her intently, but she simply appeared to be organizing her thoughts. "Well, it's a long story," she finally said. "Shall I give you an abridged version?"

"Make sure you give all the juicy details," Hisoka said, slightly confused. She didn't seem inclined to hide anything from him. Were his instincts off?

"Well, I know you heard that I arrested Kuroro recently," she said. "How that happened went like this. I was in the desert hunting a bounty when lo and behold, I spot the supposedly dead leader of the Genei Ryodan trying to climb down a plateau. He wasn't doing very well either, so I assumed he was hurt and was easy prey. So, I immediately abandoned my original bounty and started chasing after Kuroro. You know he is worth a lot of money, don't you? To the Hunter's Association I mean. The mafia got too wimpy to take on the Ryodan after a while."

"Yes," Hisoka agreed.

"Turns out, Kuroro can be pretty sneaky when he wants to be and it took me a while, but I finally got him," Midoya went on. "So, I arrested him and took him to the Hunter's Association where he made a big mess of things and got me into a lot of trouble too. Later, I found out he _let_ me arrest him just so he could access to the uber secretive Jyonen-user database in the Hunter's Association building."

"Ho?" Hisoka commented neutrally.

"Long story short," Midoya went on, "I went after him, but he convinced me to help him instead of arresting him."

And here was the crux of the matter, Hisoka felt. "How?" he asked, trying not to appear too eager.

"By offering me something no else has been able to," Midoya said, smiling.

"What?" Hisoka demanded impatiently.

"Twenty billion zennis a _week_!" Midoya exclaimed excitedly.

For a moment, Hisoka sat in stunned silence. Then he croaked, "Twenty billion zennis a week? You mean… you mean… money?"

"A lot of money!" Midoya chattered cheerfully. "That's more than he is worth as a bounty, you know? It's wonderful!"

"That's all?" Hisoka asked, disappointed. "I was certain it was something else."

"Like what?" Midoya asked curiously.

"I wish I knew what," Hisoka grumbled, climbing to his feet. All the excitement that had been building up in him had drained out in an instant. "You can go back to your base now. Tell Kuroro I will come by tomorrow and he can brief me on what he expects me to do."

"But of course," Midoya said, inclining her head. "No sex for you tonight then?"

"No," Hisoka said sadly. "I am not in the mood."

"Pity. I would have liked the chance to turn you down. I am sure it would have been very fun," Midoya said with a smile. "Tomorrow then."

"Bye," Hisoka mumbled dejectedly and started to leave.

What a waste of time! And how boring this Midoya woman turned out to be. He had been so certain she was the key to unlocking the deepest recesses of Kuroro Lucifer's soul too. Of all the wonderful things that could have… Hisoka froze suddenly. Something about her story was off. She had said that she had met Kuroro strictly by accident in the desert. Yet, she also claimed he had gotten himself arrested deliberately so he could access the Jyonen-user database in the Hunter's Association, suggesting he had _planned_ his arrest. That did not mesh. Had Kuroro came up with the plan on the spot while he was being chased by her? It was possible; Kuroro Lucifer was possibly the smartest, sneakiest, most scheming bastard Hisoka had met in a while. But, there were still cracks in that picture. How would Kuroro have known of the Jyonen-user database in the first place? Kuroro had not expected to be caught by Kurapika, and most certainly would not have foreseen having his Nen sealed. Why would he know about this secretive Jyonen-user database in the first place?

Hisoka's Nen flared suddenly. She had _lied_ to him. That Midoya woman had _successfully tricked him._ Instantly, he was turning around, ready to head back to the table to pry the real story out of her (and possibly have wild, bloody sex with her) – and almost walked right into her.

He stared down at her, aware that he was on the verge of breaking his promise to Kuroro and murdering her. She merely looked back at him with a knowing smile. "You know," she said conversationally. "You do the 'I'm bat-shit crazy act' pretty good. I mean, I can tell you do get into insane little fits of bloodlust, but you aren't in that state all the time. I think the scariest thing about you is that you are actually sane, and truly aware of how much you enjoy killing people." Her smile widened and she patted him on the shoulder. "Nice job trying to pump information out of me. But honestly, even if I told you the truth, it wouldn't be of much use to you. There's nothing you can use against any of us. I merely refused to give you any information based on the general principle that ignorance is not just bliss, it is the key to eternal sleep at the bottom of a very deep lake. Just go along with Kuroro's plans and you'll get your fight with him. I advise you to be satisfied with that."

"You know," Hisoka breathed, licking his lips, "that alone tells me there is something in your past with Kuroro that I will want to know."

"Ah, yes, of course, though I honestly have no idea what that could be," Midoya said pleasantly, "and why do you want to know whatever is it you want to know, Hisoka?"

"I want to find Kuroro's weakness," Hisoka said, his voice a low growl of desire.

"Kuroro's weakness," Midoya said slowly, her voice brimming with amusement. "My dear Hisoka…" She leaned over, her lips close to his ear and whispered, "What makes you think Kuroro _has_ a weakness?"

Smiling wickedly, she glided around him and walked off, leaving Hisoka with his ear tingling from her breath, and his body quivering with painful arousal.

* * *

><p>Pepeka stood outside the restaurant Hisoka and Midoya-sensei had vanished into, fidgeting. Kuroro had warned him not to get within fifty feet of Hisoka, and that meant he had to stay outside in the cold. It was getting very pointless, this watching. True, he could see them seated by the window, but he couldn't hear what they were saying at all. There was no way to tell if Hisoka was trying to get information out of Midoya-sensei or not. The best he could hope for was to make sure that Hisoka bastard didn't try to take advantage of Midoya-sensei! (A little voice at the back of his head reminded him that Midoya-sensei <em>was<em> Midoya-sensei, and she could beat the living crap out of Hisoka before Pepeka could even step into the building, and if she _couldn't_ defeat Hisoka, he probably couldn't either, but that was beside the point. It was the thought that counted.)

Abruptly, Pepeka straightened up. Hisoka was leaving and Midoya-sensei was following behind him. Where were they going? Should he follow them? They were moving out of sight. But if he entered the restaurant, he would be a lot… oh, there was Midoya-sensei exiting the shop. He dithered a while, wondering if he should approach her. She wouldn't be happy to know he followed her… oh, she was walking towards him.

"Pepeka," she said pleasantly. "What a coincidence." Okay… she was in a pretty decent mood. Maybe he wouldn't get mauled too badly.

"Sensei," he replied, trying not to appear too cowed. "Erm… it wasn't a coincidence. I… uh… I followed you…"

"I know it wasn't a coincidence, Pepeka," she said patiently. "I was giving you a chance to talk your way out of this."

"Oh." Pepeka fidgeted awkwardly as Midoya-sensei started to walk away.

"Come on," she called over her shoulder. "What are you waiting for?"

"Coming! Coming!" Pepeka replied hurriedly and started to walk after her. As he reached her, he remembered Lucifer's guess that Hisoka had been after some sort of information from Midoya-sensei. "So," he said, trying to sound natural. "What did you and Hisoka talk about?"

Midoya-sensei's eyes flashed towards him, glowing with joviality. "Oh, the usual. Topics we have in common," she said vaguely.

"Like?"

"Sex and screwing Kuroro."

* * *

><p>Early the next morning, Hisoka had appeared at the base, looking suspiciously cheerful and sane. Kuroro had been sitting on a bench, staring thoughtfully at the game console when Hisoka had popped up behind him with a smile and a brief salute. Smiling faintly back in greeting, Kuroro gestured towards the square box at his feet.<p>

"This is Greed Island," he told Hisoka.

"Ho. It looks so normal," Hisoka drawled, circling the Joystation console curiously. "Interesting." Then with a look of idleness on his face, he looked about and asked, "Where are your lovely companions?"

"Still sleeping," Kuroro said just as Midoya appeared at the doorway of her bedroom (as much as an empty room with a sleeping bag could be called a bedroom) wearing only an over-sized button-down shirt, hair still mussed from sleep.

"Hi," she said sleepily, rubbing her eyes. "You're early."

"And you're sexy," Hisoka replied, leering openly at her legs.

"Remember what I said about flattery and truth?" Midoya asked, smiling. "Excuse me while I get dressed." She disappeared back into her room.

Shortly later, Pepeka suddenly appeared at the doorway to his room in a rush. "I thought I smelled a creep," he growled, glaring at Hisoka, his face still creased and puffy with sleep. "Why the hell do you smell like fucking strawberries?"

"Good morning, sunshine," Hisoka giggled. "I'm glad you like how I smell. I like how you smell too."

"Fucking pervert," Pepeka retorted hostilely.

Hisoka giggled louder and Kuroro said firmly, "Focus, Hisoka."

"Yes, Kuroro," Hisoka purred. "I'm sorry, I forgot to mention you look absolutely delectable too; so hard and solid and cold and… _not_ soft. Not the slightest bit of softness…" His voice trailed off as he started to laugh hysterically.

"Thank you. Now about Greed Island," Kuroro said patiently, "the game is a lot more dangerous than it first appears. From what I've managed to find out, once you enter, you may have difficulty getting back."

"Sounds fun," Hisoka said, still tittering.

Kuroro tried not to sigh. "I do not know how you can go about finding a Jyonen-user in there," he said, "or how you can ah… find our mutual acquaintances. I leave those up to you. Once you're in the game, you should have some idea of how to best go about with this mission."

"True," Hisoka agreed.

"I will not expect you to be able to contact me," Kuroro went on, "Undoubtedly, cell phones and laptops will not work in the game. Even if you do manage to make it out of the game, I suggest you only contact me when you find a Jyonen-user. I have full faith in your ability and motivation to find one as soon as possible."

"Your faith is not misplaced," Hisoka purred, eyelids half closing. "But now, before we proceed, let me reiterate the terms of our transaction. Once I find the Jyonen-user and you regain the use of your Nen, you will fight me in a duel to the death."

"Yes," Kuroro agreed.

"And if I survive," Hisoka went on, "I am sure dear Midoya will have a fight with me too." He glanced over at Midoya, who had reappeared at the doorway to her room, fully dressed.

"If you like," Midoya said with a shrug.

"Wonderful," Hisoka breathed. "Absolutely wonderful." With a happy sigh, he melted to the floor until he was sitting before the game console. "Any last instructions before I go?" he asked.

"No." Kuroro paused in thought suddenly then added, "Wait. Yes. You might encounter a Game Master named Razor. If you do, please do your best to… be yourself… to him." Pepeka gasped in horror then whooped loudly in approval. Midoya just looked amused.

"By myself to him? Whatever does that mean?" Hisoka asked curiously.

"It means to fuck him up good," Pepeka said, grinning widely.

"Fuck him up good. Fascinating, if this Razor is… powerful," Hisoka repeated, licking his lips. "Dare I ask why?"

"He… rejected us," Kuroro said, a faint smile ghosting over his face. He glanced at Midoya, and she was laughing silently.

Hisoka thought about that for a while then shrugged. "Fascinating. Well then," he said, grinning widely. "See you around." And in a flash, he was gone.

"Whoa," Pepeka gasped, coming over to stare at the console. "That was cool."

"Very," Midoya said. "We should enjoy the entertainment while we can."

"Oh?" Kuroro asked.

"Yup," Midoya said cheerfully. "This will be the last bit of excitement for a while. Now, we have nothing to do but wait for Hisoka to find the Ryodan members or for the Ryodan members to find the Jyonen-user. How long do you think that will take? I foresee a month – a month of waiting…"

-break-

It was unfortunate how right Midoya was. Once Hisoka entered the game, there wasn't really anything else they could do but wait for news. On the upside, that meant they finally had time to rest and recover from their numerous missions. On the downside… they had time to rest - too much time.

Pepeka was the first to crack. Not twenty-four hours after Hisoka left, Pepeka started pacing around the shared space of the abandoned building, muttering miserably.

"What is it?" Midoya asked, nose-deep in a book.

"… killing me," Pepeka muttered. "This is killing me, sensei. There's nothing to do!"

"Read a book?" Midoya suggested.

"Only book here I like is that one about aliens and I've already finished it," Pepeka muttered, still pacing.

"Read another book," Kuroro suggested helpfully, turning a page. "I strongly recommend Sigmund Freud's _The Ego and the Id_. It makes for a very amusing light read."

"Uh uh," Pepeka said, "no way. The last time you recommended a book to me, you recommended Marquis de Sade. Seriously, what kind of shit is that?"

"Feitan, that is, one of the Ryodan members, enjoyed it," Kuroro said with a shrug, "I thought you might too. Besides, Marquis de Sade's books reveal a certain aspect of human nature that is so often repressed in our society: our animalistic desire to hurt, conquer and control."

"You Spiders are all fucked up," Pepeka said miserably. "Totally, utterly fucked up."

"I said Feitan enjoyed the book, not the Ryodan, Pepeka," Kuroro said patiently. "The Ryodan is made up of many people, and we all have our own little obsessions. Feitan's just happens to be torture and blood. There is no need to judge him for that."

"What the fuck? There is no need to judge him for enjoying torture people?"

"I do not judge you for enjoying killing criminals."

"What the… well… well… fine! But you're all still fucked up."

"Temper, temper, Pepeka," Midoya chastised gently and Pepeka shut up.

As Kuroro expected, Pepeka only lasted another six more hours before Midoya was forced to send him away saying, "There's nothing you can do here anyway. Go back home and catch bounties." It was also an indication of how bored Pepeka was that he agreed to leave his precious sensei along with the evil Spider without too much of a fight.

Surprisingly, the next to break was Kuroro himself. He was aware that like him, Midoya had a great deal of patience, and was perfectly comfortable sitting around doing nothing but reading. Given that he was more acclimatized to sitting in wet, smelly, uncomfortable buildings than she was, he had thought he would last a lot longer than her. He was thus bemused when not two weeks later, he found himself staring at the pages of the book blankly, idly wondering if he should tear them out and fold them into paper planes.

"You too?" Midoya asked mildly, when she noticed him examining the spine of the book with a gleam of destructiveness in his eyes.

"Unfortunately," Kuroro confessed, closing the book before he could destroy it. "There is a restlessness within me that I've never noticed before." He frowned deeply.

"We all need something to do," Midoya said, closing her book too. "And at the moment, you have nothing to do, literally. No plans to think of, no schemes to run…"

"Yes," Kuroro agreed. "Also, I haven't killed anyone in a while."

"True. Getting the urge to destroy?"

"A very powerful urge." He put the book on the floor quickly.

"Well," Midoya said cheerfully, "there is really only one thing to do in situations like this."

"What?" Kuroro asked hopefully.

In reply, Midoya flashed him a happy smile and said, "Kill something of course. How do you feel about alligator hunting, Kuroro?"

* * *

><p><span>AN: Thank you for reading! Please don't forget to drop a review!

Trivia: People are always curious as to what the Ryodan members smell like. "They spend all their days murdering people and digging out their eyes!" a certain victim of the Ryodan's activities once exclaimed, "Of course they smell like blood and death!" Unfortunately, this victim is quite wrong. The Ryodan members do not, in actual fact, smell like blood and death, unless they just so happened to have killed someone at that moment. The same could be said for most people who kill other people on a daily basis. They very seldom smell like blood thanks to the creative invention of a great piece of technology known as 'soap'. Hence, if one had the fortune or misfortune to brush up against these people, they are more likely to smell like:

Hisoka: Strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, lemon, lavender, or blood, depending on his mood.

Kuroro: Leather and old books

Pepeka: Coconut and cologne

Midoya: Midoya, and sometimes, if she feels like dressing up, Pepeka (because she uses his cologne, being too lazy to buy her own)

The dear 'victim', who has killed before, and who believed his skin is drenched in blood, would have been disturbed to know that he did not smell like blood just because he had killed two people. He, in fact, smelled of soap, old books, and, if his boss had just literally thrown a tantrum, various bottles of perfumes, makeup, mothballs, old shoes and chicken soup.


	10. Enjoying a Vacation with the Juwasi

A/N: This story is rated M for adult themes. The opinions of the characters do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the author.

Thank you to all those who have read (and reviewed) this story!

I do not own Hunter X Hunter or any other mentioned literature/books in this story. 

* * *

><p><span>Enjoying a Vacation With the Juwasi<span>

Truthfully, Kuroro had very mixed feelings about alligator hunting. It wasn't like he had never done it before. In Meteor City, food was scarce so anything that had a heartbeat was considered fair prey. By some happy chance, Kuroro, at a young age, had discovered the existence of blind, albino and very fat alligators living in the polluted waters of the industrial-sized sewage pipes that ran through all of Meteor City. Through the ingenious use of some rope, a large wooden crate and a good lot of splashing in the waters, Kuroro managed to snag the occasional alligator dumb enough to consider him an easy meal. (In hindsight, Kuroro suspected that eating that meat had probably been a bad idea since his brain just hadn't been the same since then. It was likely due to the high levels of mercury in the water and meat. Or maybe, it was just puberty that occurred around the same time, which did it for his brain.) At any rate, Kuroro was no stranger to alligator hunting, so that was not the problem.

"The problem is," Kuroro told Midoya as he squashed a packet of something brown and squishy that Midoya claimed was food into a knapsack, "that I felt sorry for the poor beasts."

"You did?" Midoya asked, surprised, as she filled their bottles with mineral water.

"Absolutely," Kuroro said, zipping up the knapsack. "What did the poor beasts do to me anyway, to deserve to be killed like that? All they were doing was floating around in the sewage pipes. Apparently they lived on the huge quantity of insects found in the pipes. So, they were just happily eating giant roaches when one day, I came along and started killing and eating them. Poor things probably didn't know what hit them." He straightened up and looked around the little hut they were in. It would be the last of civilization they would see for a while once they ventured into the Lori Swamps.

"I honestly never expected you to feel sorry for anything," Midoya said, standing up as well. While Kuroro was dressed casually in long pants, functional boots and a plain shirt, Midoya was dressed in a safari top, shorts and a hat. She looked like a rich tourist slumming in the wilderness, until one noticed the wicked machete tucked in her belt. "Do you feel sorry for the people you kill too?"

"People? Oh no, of course not," Kuroro said, waving a hand dismissively. "People are born inherently evil. All the people I killed deserved to die for one reason or another."

"Oh good. That sounds more like the Kuroro I know," Midoya said, relieved, as she shouldered her over-sized knapsack. "Well, if you really don't want to kill any alligators, we can always go bird-watching."

"Bird-watching? Are there many bird species here?" Kuroro asked interestedly.

"The Lori Swamps has fantastic birds," Midoya said as they made their way towards the speedboat that would be their mode of transport during their one day tour of the Lori Swamps. "The last time I was here, I saw the most gorgeous colossal kingfishers. They came in all the shades of blue, green and yellow. It was quite a sight to see, especially when they started eating some of the slower members of my tour group."

"Sounds wonderful," Kuroro agreed. He had seen some pretty red birds outside the hut. They looked like flamingoes, but he was certain flamingoes did not grow six feet tall and have nasty, sharp teeth obviously designed to rent flesh and crack bones.

"Or we could go monster hunting!" Midoya said, perking up.

"Monster hunting?"

"There are rumours in these parts of a man-eating monster that appeared recently. It is, supposedly, a giant ape seven feet tall with the face of a pig and the claws of a bear," Midoya said excitedly. "They call it _Juwasi_ in this area by the way. It means 'looks like your granddad's bottom'. Wouldn't it be fun hunting one of those?"

"That story reeks of a thousand rumours and myths," Kuroro said doubtfully as he stepped into the speedboat.

"That's why it'll be fun!" Midoya giggled, spinning in a happy circle before leaping lightly into the boat. "Oh, it'll probably turn out to be a gator or a bear in the end, but wouldn't it be great if we solved the mystery?"

Kuroro smiled. Her enthusiasm was catching. "Sure, we can try," he said. "There's no harm in doing so. We can bird-watch and look for monsters at the same time." Besides, his prophecy did tell him to enjoy his 'vacation'. There couldn't be any harm in indulging in a little folklore investigation. It might turn out to be fun after all, and if this _Juwasi_ did exist, he could sell it for money – a lot of money. The bandit in him brightened up at that thought.

"Great!" Midoya exclaimed, beaming widely. In her excitement, she looked a lot younger than she really was.

"Well then," Kuroro said, warming up to the expedition. "Shall we?"

"Yup!" Midoya chirped. "Let's go! You drive though. The last time I tried driving a boat, I ran over a pair of fishermen. It was all quite tragic. The good news was, their dead corpses attracted the attention of a giant gator, and that's how I got my trophy! So there was a happy ending to the story after all. If only I didn't have to eat it in the end…"

"Wonderful," Kuroro agreed as he started up the engines.

The weather was fantastic, there was the prospect of seeing beautiful man-eating birds, finding a mythical beast and running over fishermen along the way. Yes, he was definitely going to enjoy this vacation.

* * *

><p>Two hours later, Kuroro was tying the dead carcass of a twenty foot alligator to the back of the speedboat. As it turned out, all doubts Kuroro had about the morality of alligator hunting were put to rest when one of the numerous giant alligators inhabiting the swamp tried to eat him. The alligators here, he realized shortly after setting off, didn't look anything like those back in Meteor City. While those in Meteor City were fat, slow and cute in a rather silly way, the ones here were large, muscular and very rude. When Kuroro tried to pat one of them, it grabbed his arm and dragged him into the water where Kuroro was forced to demonstrate how disappointed he was with its behavior.<p>

"Nice," Midoya commented as she helped him reel the body in. "I've never seen anyone kill an alligator with a single dart between the eyes."

"Thank you," Kuroro said graciously.

"Never seen anyone try to pat one either."

"I thought it looked lonely. Guess it was just hungry."

"Ah, yes. It was an easy mistake to make. I assume you are no longer opposed to hunting gators now."

Kuroro looked around the swamp at the other gators watching them. They sank below the surface embarrassedly under his gaze. "Guess not," he said with a shrug. "Especially if they continue to bother me."

"I somehow doubt we will be bothered by them anymore," Midoya commented wryly as the area around them became suspiciously empty of gators. "Shall we continue on? If we want to see the really pretty birds, we have to go a little deeper into the swamps."

"But of course."

Not half an hour later, they came upon a flock of beautiful yellow and green birds. They stopped the boat to watch as the birds swooped about the sky in formation, sparkling a gorgeous gold in the bright morning sun.

"Beautiful," Kuroro commented appreciatively. "What species is that?"

"_Nonhwng_," Midoya informed him. "It means…" The birds swooped down suddenly, snatching a massive thirty-foot alligator from the water and flying off with it, "gator-eater," Midoya finished. They watched the flock disappear into the distance with their prey. "I heard they flourish here because there are so many gators here," she added as an afterthought.

"Lovely. I like them already."

They continued on. Midoya had been right; the Lori swamps had the most fantastic birds. Kuroro saw flocks of tiny turquoise birds fluttering across the sky, beautiful orange swan-like birds that growled at them when they got too close, and birds with multi-coloured plumages singing in the trees. Kuroro believed it was a rather enchanting rendition of the drinking song _Fuck It I Can Drive While Drun-. _

"Marvelous," Kuroro had said as both he and Midoya peered curiously at a bird in the water, which glared back at them with a great deal of suspicion. Though it was shaped somewhat like a duck, the flesh, organs and feathers of the bird were transparent, so Kuroro could see right through to the bones. "Absolutely marvelous."

"Quack," the bird replied balefully before diving under the surface of the water. It vanished from sight almost instantly.

As they went on, the sun rose to its apex and the number of bird sightings started to drop. "Let's stop for a rest," Midoya suggested. "There's a camp site not too far from here. We can stop there for lunch."

"Okay," Kuroro said agreeably. He was in a good mood. It had been a wonderful idea to come out here. The smell of blood in the air was very refreshing, and it was definitely more exciting being out here than sitting in the base and folding paper planes.

Carefully, he guided the speedboat towards the banks where there was a break in the vegetation. Almost immediately, he spotted a post that the boat could be tethered to. Evidently, this was a popular spot for hunters and tourists to stop at. With a great deal of efficiency, they secured the boat and started walking inland. The ground was slushy, which made for a difficult trek, but as it turned out, the camp site was not far from the river.

Fifteen minutes later, Kuroro saw a break in the dense vegetation of the swamp. Going through it revealed a wide space that had been artificially cleared of foliage. Three tiny huts stood in the middle of it. They were made of wood and had thatch roofs. Instead of resting on the ground, they were elevated off the muddy soil by a series of interlocking poles. "To avoid floods," he guessed, examining the damp, moldy poles.

"Yup," Midoya said as she selected the driest hut available.

Kuroro looked around. The hut was empty and somewhat run down, but it was dry and provided adequate shelter from the noon sun. If anything, his main problem with the hut was how tiny it was. He could not stand straight without hitting his head on the thatch roof, so he settled for scooting about on all fours. Midoya, who _could_ stand straight without hitting her head, didn't laugh. In fact, she considerately joined him on all fours.

"My rule of thumb is never to embarrass the client," she explained cheerfully.

"Ah," Kuroro said, and still felt vaguely embarrassed anyway.

"Food?" A package of the ambiguously brown and squishy substance was offered to him. It turned out to be some kind of processed food the nature of which Kuroro could not identify. "It's supposed to contain all the calories, protein and vitamins you need in a meal," Midoya told him, smiling at the look on his face. "Apparently astronauts take these with them into space."

"I see," Kuroro said, and tried not to appear too fussy about his food. It wasn't that it tasted bad. That would have been fine with him; he had been forced to eat some nasty things in his life (like radioactive mushrooms; it's a long story). It was simply the texture of it, which was slimy and gritty at the same time. It made him a little nauseous eating it, but he forced it down. Residents of Meteor City never wasted food, no matter how disgusting it tasted.

They finished their meal in a comfortable silence then Midoya started for the entrance. "I'm going to check out the river conditions further down," she told him. "The currents in the next stretch can be unpredictable." Kuroro nodded in acknowledgement and she crawled out of the hut.

For a moment, the hut was entirely silent. Then slowly, sounds started to filter in from the outside; the rustling of leaves, the gentle slosh of water and the chirping of birds. Kuroro wondered if he should try catching some of the birds. He was still feeling hungry. Idly, he watched the shadows of the leaves on the ground outside the hut. A breeze stirred the leaves and brought the odour of the swamp into the hut. Kuroro inhaled deeply. Damp, decay and foliage was the best way he could think of to describe it.

A frown creased his forehead. There was another smell in the air. He inhaled again, this time in short, sharp breaths. It was an odd smell. It smelt like… musk. Animal musk. How odd. He wondered if there was a deer about, or perhaps a sloth. He had heard that mammals, while rare, could still be found in these swamps.

Abruptly, Kuroro got his answer when a large, hairy arm shot into the entrance, grabbed him by the ankle and dragged him out of the hut. Dangling upside down, Kuroro stared down at the creature holding him up. Well. How unexpected.

It looked like he had just found the _Juwasi_.

* * *

><p>The first thought that struck Kuroro was how astonishingly accurate the descriptions of the <em>Juwasi<em> was. It stood well over seven feet, and had the arms and torso of a heavily muscular primate. The head, startling enough, looked like that of a rather adorable farm pig. The legs, on the other hand, ended in massive paws like that of a grizzly bear. As Kuroro stared, the pig head suddenly slit open from forehead to snout, revealing an oval slit teaming with sharp teeth and mandibles like that of an ant. Yup. Looked like granddad's bottom too.

"Fascinating," Kuroro couldn't help saying as he swung in the iron-grip of the _Juwasi_. "Absolutely fascinating."

To his surprise, the creature replied, "Food shut up."

"My goodness, and sentient too," Kuroro said, delighted.

"No speak," the _Juwasi_ growled in a low guttural voice. "Bring to King. Eat."

"King! My goodness! Sentient _and_ has a social structure!"

In response, the _Juwasi_ shook Kuroro violently. "No speak," it growled, mandibles moving eerily. Turning, it started to stride deeper into the land, leaving heavy prints in the slushy mud. Immediately, Kuroro kicked the creature's wrist, hoping to dislodge its grip. The creature didn't even seem to notice. All Kuroro got out of it was an excruciating pain in his ankle.

This was not good. Though he did want to capture the creature alive and whole, he could not risk it bringing him deeper into the swamps. With a swift movement, Kuroro drew the machete from his belt and hacked at the massive hand clamped around his ankle. The _Juwasi _grunted in annoyance and ripped the machete out of his grip. It carelessly dropped the machete on the ground and peered at its wrist. The machete had nicked its hide. It wasn't even bleeding.

As the creature was distracted, Kuroro grabbed onto its wrist and twisted his ankle. His foot slid out of his boot and he landed on the ground nimbly. He did not stay to challenge the beast; he was obviously no match for it in his current state. His best bet was to head back towards the speed boat. If he managed to get it out onto the waters, the creature might not be able to follow him. There was also a chance he would run into Midoya. He had no doubt Midoya would be more than a match for the _Juwasi_.

It was a good plan. Unfortunately, he had not counted on a second _Juwasi _emerging from the bush and cutting off his escape. Sliding on the mushy soil, Kuroro could not stop himself from crashing into the second beast. Immediately, massive arms clamped around him, holding him to a large chest covered in a hard exoskeleton.

Kuroro did not even bother to struggle. He didn't have the leverage to get out of the creature's grip anyway. Instead, he examined the creature in front of him. It was obviously a second _Juwasi_, yet was obviously _not_ a _Juwasi_. Though it too had the head of a pig, the rest of its body appeared to be that of a massive beetle standing over seven feet. Kuroro wasn't being held by two primate arms but four out of six insect legs.

"Food," the second beast said.

"Food," the first beast agreed.

"Capable of basic verbal communication," Kuroro commented mildly as they started to head deeper into the swamps.

The second beast responded by squeezing Kuroro so tightly he couldn't breathe. Breath taken away, Kuroro started gasping helplessly, but could not draw enough oxygen into his lungs. As darkness started to cloud his vision, Kuroro's last thought was, "My prophecy said to enjoy my vacation, and I must say, this is turning out to be a delightful vacation."

* * *

><p>Eventually, darkness faded to light. Along with it came a horrible throbbing in his head and a strange numbness in his extremities.<p>

Kuroro lay absolutely still, making a mental check list of his body parts. It seemed he was still in one piece, which was the good news. The bad news was that he appeared to be covered in something sticky that clung feebly to him like dried glue.

Slowly, Kuroro opened his eyes partially and looked around. He appeared to be dangling from a humongous tree in a cocoon of something transparent and slimy. A closer look revealed that he was not the only one. All around him, hanging from various branches were animals of various shapes and sizes. Some were still alive and struggling, some were dying, and others were already dead. The carcasses looked strange, as if they had been drained entirely until only an empty husk was left.

Movement along the branches caught his eye and he twisted his head slightly so he could look. A _Juwasi _with an alligator's head, a wild cat's body and human arms clambered up the tree nimbly, dragging a 200 pound fish behind it. As Kuroro watched, the _Juwasi_ squatted on a branch, reached between its legs and excreted a large glop of a mucus-like substance into its hand. Deftly, it used that to wrap the still feebly flopping fish up and hang it from the branch.

Oh good. Now he knew _exactly_ what the cocoon he was in was made of.

Gradually, Kuroro tried to sit up. His cocoon wobbled dangerously and he fell over. With a little more care, Kuroro finally managed to reach a somewhat vertical position. The change in posture gave him a bird's-eye view of the swamp below him.

To be accurate, he did not appear to be in a swamp anymore. Though the land still looked somewhat mushy, the trees were a lot taller and sturdier than most swamp plants, and resembled trees normally found in a forest instead. The trees weren't what caught Kuroro's attention though. What caught his attention were the dozens of _Juwasi_ scuttling about below the tree and on the tree. Quickly, he realized that the tree he was hanging on had been hollowed out, and was being used as a kind of base for the creatures. They were constantly entering and leaving roughly-cut holes scattered at the various levels of the tree.

An ant's nest, Kuroro realized. He was looking at creatures that functioned like ants.

Kuroro's thoughts were interrupted when a massive pink tube, at least two feet wide, extended suddenly from the top of the tree. The tube swooped towards one of the cocoons holding a massive alligator, at least thirty feet in length. A long, sharp fang slid out from the tube and pierced both the cocoon and the alligator. The whole tree shuddered as the tube started to suck. Within seconds, the alligator was nothing but an empty husk hanging in a deflated cocoon.

Well, that must be the King the _Juwasi_ were talking about. It was most certainly one huge _Juwasi_.

Tentatively, Kuroro probed at the cocoon holding him. It stretched and flexed under his touch. Grabbing onto it, he tore at it with all his strength. The substance stretched under his pull but did not break. Kuroro paused thoughtfully then pulled his favourite dagger out of his belt and stuck it into the cocoon. The blade slipped through easily enough, but when Kuroro tried to cut through the cocoon, the sticky material simply sealed itself up.

Mildly annoyed, he stopped and looked around. There had to be something else he could do. He felt in his pockets and pulled out the keys to the speedboat, a whistle and a candy bar. He stared at them for a while, wondering what he could do with those. That did not help so he looked around instead. The panicked animals hanging around him did not provide much inspiration either.

Well, well, well.

With a sigh, Kuroro settled back into his cocoon, cradling his head in his arms. There really wasn't anything he could do now, so he might as well take a nap. His best bet was to hope Midoya managed to find him, preferably before he got his insides sucked out by a giant pink tube.

On the bright side, this wasn't the worst vacation he has ever had. There had been that time in Pyonkin with the llama that kept trying to eat his hair…

* * *

><p>At some point, Kuroro must have fallen asleep because when he next opened his eyes, the sun was low in the sky and the entire land was dyed a reddish orange. Blinking sleepily, he struggled into a sitting position and looked around. It seemed the <em>Juwasi<em> were getting ready to retire for the night. There was a lot less activity going on below, and some of the _Juwasi_ were using leaves and vines to cover up the holes at the base of the tree. Large _Juwasi_, a lot bigger than the ones that had caught him, continued to patrol the tree, circling the base of the tree.

Yawning, Kuroro pulled out the candy bar and started to eat. He briefly considered rationing the food then changed his mind. No doubt, all the animals hanging in the tree, including himself, would be dead in a day or two. If the King did not eat them, dehydration and exposure to the environment would kill them. There was no point rationing the food. He might as well keep his energy up for as long as he can.

A flash of something bright caught his eye and Kuroro paused in mid-chew. Nonchalantly, he resumed chewing, eyes fixed on where he had caught a gleam of something metallic at the base of the tree. One of the large _Juwasi_ wandered near the spot and abruptly vanished into the darkness. A faint smile fleeted across Kuroro's face and he finished the last of the candy bar. Leaning his arms on his knees, he waited patiently, enjoying the way the cocoon rocked gently in the evening breeze.

Briefly, the rocking intensified and Kuroro looked at the branch next to his. A gleaming statue of silver stood on the branch looking back at him. In the light of dusk, Midoya's Yang form radiated a stunning red so she looked like steel wrapped in flames.

"Midoya," he greeted pleasantly, "so good of you to drop by."

The silver statue inclined its head in greeting. Warily, Midoya poked at the cocoon with her finger then tilted her head at him inquisitively.

"This will be a little tricky," Kuroro told her, "the foul substance this cocoon is made out of can be stretched and penetrated, but not torn. I am not sure you can tear it, even with the strength of Yang. I would strongly recommend you try though. I have discovered where this substance comes from and I am most keen to get out of it."

Midoya nodded and held up an arm. Liquid metal flowed over her palm and solidified into a wicked-looking blade that glowed with Nen. Interestedly, Kuroro watched as Midoya poured more Nen into the blade until it started to glow. Carefully, she inserted the Nen-strengthened blade into the cocoon. Upon contact with her Nen, the cocoon started to smoke and hiss. Kuroro wriggled out of the way to give her more space to work and she dragged the blade down. Her Nen seemed to harden the cocoon, making it brittle and fragile.

Abruptly, the cocoon disintegrated around him and Kuroro found himself falling. He landed nimbly on the branch below him then crouched down before any of the patrolling _Juwasi_ could catch sight of him. Midoya, back in human form, dropped onto the branch next to him and passed him a machete. Kuroro recognized it; it was the one he had lost just that afternoon.

"Thank you," he murmured, hefting the blade. It did feel good to have a weapon of destruction in his hands again.

"Kuroro," Midoya whispered. "I have a favour to ask of you."

"Yes?"

"May I be released from our agreement for tonight? Just tonight."

Kuroro regarded her thoughtfully. She stared back, eyes solemn and steady. "Why?" he asked finally.

With a graceful movement, Midoya moved onto the branch he was on and pulled out her cellphone. "I need to exterminate the _Juwasi_," she said quietly. "I just got a notice from the Hunter's Association. You can read it here. In summary, apparently, these _Juwasi_ are a species of ants that attack and kill humans. They are an extremely destructive breed, and have, for some reason, spread rapidly to different parts of the world recently. If left be, they can wipe out entire civilizations and ecosystems."

"Is that so?"

"That is so," Midoya confirmed. "I must admit I took a long look around this nest before coming to save you. With about fifty _Juwasi_, it seems this nest is considered one of the bigger colonies outside the original nest. Now, according to the intel I received, most of the _Juwasi_ or ants are incapable of breeding. The giant _Juwasi_ inside this tree is one of the few that can reproduce, and it must be destroyed before it causes anymore harm."

"What do you suggest we do then?" Kuroro asked.

A smile flashed briefly across Midoya's face. "I don't expect _you_ to do anything," she said gently. "Without your Nen, this would be a huge risk for you to take. I recommend that you retire to safety while I deal with the nest. Once the _Juwasi_ realize the nest is under attack, they will swarm back to protect it. You should be quite safe from them then. I doubt the usual dangers of the swamp hold much threat to you. Just head north for about three hours and you will reach the campsite. Wait there for me."

"No."

Midoya blinked. "No?" she questioned tentatively.

"No," Kuroro elaborated. "I do not want to return to the campsite just yet."

"Why not? You like being covered in slime?"

"I am on vacation, aren't I?" Kuroro smiled. "I want to go sight-seeing."

"This is hardly the safest place to go sight-seeing."

"The places worth seeing never are," Kuroro said with a shrug. "I am extraordinarily curious about these 'ants'. What a strange species! Though you claim they come from the same species, one 'ant' looks so different from another. Why is that so? I must get a chance to take a good look at them before you wipe them off the face of this earth. Besides…"

"Besides?" Midoya questioned, an eyebrow raised.

"Besides, I want to see the infamous Two Star Blacklist Hunter Midoya in action," Kuroro finished, meeting her eyes.

Even in the growing dark, he could see her eyes light up in response to his subtle challenge. "So," she said casually, "my dear client, Mr Lucifer. You want me to fight and kill fifty powerful, sentient ants, armed with claws, fangs and poison, and their enormous king while protecting you from any danger just so you can enjoy the local fauna, myself included?"

"Put most succinctly, yes. And make it flashy and graphically violent. I am afraid I was very offended by the way the ants treat their guests. The accomodations leave much to be desired."

"Oh good. Flashy and violent too," Midoya said dryly as she started to lead him down the tree. "And here I was afraid this mission would be too simple."

* * *

><p><span>AN: I realized that there are several versions of the prophecy Kuroro got from Neon, thanks to different translators of the manga. The version I read, in Chinese, said that Kuroro was to enjoy his 'vacation', though the anime did not seem to have mentioned that. So, for those who are confused by Kuroro's reference to 'enjoying his vacation', this is the reason why. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the story. Please remember to leave a review!

Also, please forgive any mistakes I might have made in this chapter. Writing while down with the flu is not a happy experience!

Trivia: For a period of time, an enterprising young Kuroro Lucifer had tried his hand at the tourist industry. Visitors to Meteor City (largely comprising of evil mafia people), for a reasonable price of ten zennis a day, were taken on an enlightening tour of the more decent parts of the country. Guided by a very knowledgeable Kuroro Lucifer, the tourists were first given a tour of indigenous areas like 'Garbage Dump Site A', where for an extra price of five zennis, visitors could try their hands at sifting through garbage for usable material, thus getting a taste of the main form of livelihood in the country. Next, visitors were taken through 'Rundown Slum Town 3', where visitors would tour the make-shift cardboard boxes that the natives sleep in. Included in this tour is lunch at the guide's own cardboard box. On the menu are local delicacies, including 'Alligator Cooked Over an Open Fire', 'Cockroaches Cooked Over an Open Fire', 'Spiders Cooked Over an Open Fire' and the very popular 'Radioactive Giant Rats Cooked Over an Open Fire'. In theory, after that, Kuroro Lucifer would take his guests on a tour of the Meteor City Sewage System. Oddly enough, all the guests he had to date (all three of them) all dropped dead after lunch. He never found out why.


	11. Ending the Vacation With a Checkmate

A/N: This story is rated M for adult themes. The opinions of the characters do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the author.

Also, please do not repost this story anywhere else without seeking the author's permission.

Thank you to all those who have read (and reviewed) this story!

I do not own Hunter X Hunter or any other mentioned literature/books in this story. 

* * *

><p><span>Ending the Vacation With a Checkmate <span>

Despite their agreement, there was one big issue with Kuroro's presence, namely that he could not hide his presence without the use of his Nen. After some debate, they decided that the safest thing Kuroro could do was to hide in the open. Since the ants already knew he was on the tree, he might as well remain _on_ the tree, at least for the duration of the battle that would take place outside the tree. There, he would be relatively safe and could have a bird's eye view of the battle.

"It's like having the private balcony seats at the Empire Culture Opera House," Kuroro commented with great relish.

"That's nice. I always wanted to play the lead role in an opera," Midoya said wistfully.

"You'll get your chance one day," Kuroro said comfortingly.

"That is highly unlikely given that I can't sing. However, I can still put up a rather fancy show, so let's get this play started." Midoya reached into his pocket and pulled out the whistle there. "If you need help, I recommend using this or screaming at the top of your lungs. Alternatively…" She patted the machete at his belt, "make do until I come save you." With a wink, she leapt off the branch and disappeared into the dark.

Satisfied, Kuroro settled down on the branch to wait. He was looking forward to seeing Midoya's battle with the ants; he hadn't had a chance to see her really fight since the Ryodan fought her at the Kito mansion two years back. He wondered how much she had improved since then and why he was so excited about it. He couldn't decide if it was because she would become even more powerful an ally or if it was because she would become even more challenging an enemy.

Fortunately, his dark thoughts were interrupted when fireworks erupted from the base of the tree.

Startled, Kuroro sat up and stared at the purple, red and yellow flashes in disbelief. Was that Midoya? Well, of course it was. Presumably, the ants did not care much for fireworks and there was no one else in the vicinity. But… what on earth was she doing, and where on earth had she obtained fireworks in the middle of a _swamp_? Admittedly, it made an excellent distraction and it was… flashy. A faint, anticipatory smile ghosted over his face. She had barely started and he was already utterly confused. This was going to be good.

By now, the base of the tree was swarming with the ants he had known as _Juwasi_. They were scattering about, running around aimlessly, unable to to locate the source of the disturbance. From his vantage point, Kuroro could see their resemblance to ants in the way they reacted to an attack on the nest, running about in a kind of frantic frenzy. He felt tempted to squash them, but he didn't. They were too big to fit under his thumb anyway.

That was when the drums started. Kuroro's eyes narrowed. Not just any drums; _techno_ drums.

Just as he was trying to make sense of this, a white light lit up the entire area. Midoya, in human form, stood at the edge of the clearing, industrial-size torchlight in one hand and the mini-radio from the speedboat in the other. "Hello good citizens!" she called out cheerily. "I am a genocidal mass murderer here to wipe your entire population off the face of the earth!" The entire swarm of ants that had previously been scrambling over each other froze to a standstill and stared at her. She looked back at them warmly for a second then a wide fighter's grin spread over her face as she purred, "Come get me."

Immediately, the entire swarm surged towards her, roaring (squeaking and croaking, in some cases) for blood.

As a huge fight erupted below the tree, Kuroro pinched the bridge of his nose and counted slowly to ten. This was not what he had meant when he asked for 'flashy'. Normally, the Ryodan knew that when he said 'flashy', he meant a lot of dead, mutilated corpses, not fireworks and techno music and… Soft laughter escaped his lips and he pressed his hand to his mouth to dampen the sound. This was so… so… Well there was only one way to put it. As much as the criminal mastermind in him was cringing at the sight of a silver statue fighting to the beat of bad music, a tiny part of him that never grew up was genuinely amused by her antics. Kuroro shook his head. Only Midoya…

Stifling his laughter, he turned his attention back to the battle just in time to see Midoya, in Yang form, ripping the head of a reptilian-looking _Juwasi_ off with her bare hands. The _Juwasi_, instead of toppling over dead, spun around and started lumbering towards her, headless body bumping into other ants in its attempt to reach her. Midoya dodged between the other ants grabbing for her with powerful bursts of speed. The ants ended up tearing the headless ant to pieces before realizing their mistake. Roaring, they spun around, trying to attack the silver blur dashing between them. The torchlight, rolling about on the ground where Midoya had dropped it, illuminated enough of the clearing for Kuroro to see that several _Juwasi_ were already lying still on the ground in pieces – many pieces. He smiled in satisfaction. That was more like it. Blood, gore and a great deal of graphic violence always cheered him up after a period of incarceration.

Still, he was slightly disappointed. He had hoped the ants would mount a better challenge than this. Midoya was hardly being pushed at all, as seen from the way she pounded through them easily. She _did_ make a beautiful sight though, gleaming metal form darting between the bestial ants and leaping away, leaving a trail of blood and guts behind. As he watched, Midoya cupped her hands together and they filled with liquid metal. When she drew her hands apart, nasty-looking blades sprouted from each palm. Twirling in a circle, she lashed out with the blades, and blood and innards sprayed about in a wide arc before splattering to the ground. There was definitely a hard aesthetism to her fighting style that he liked, Kuroro decided, something powerful and delicate, graceful and harsh, and beautiful and cruel at the same time.

Midoya's blades continued to dance and the ants continued to throw themselves into the wicked arc of her blades. More blood and meat splattered onto the ground, and eventually, all the ants that had come out to challenge her were dead.

Grinding to a stop, Midoya froze in a half-crouch. Her head moved around as if she were scanning the environment. Obviously, she was satisfied with what she saw because she released her Hatsu. She looked up at him and smiled brightly. "Liked it?" she asked.

"Yes," Kuroro replied honestly. "Though you could have chosen a much more palatable genre of music, I felt."

"It was the only record in the radio," Midoya said with a careless shrug. "The next time we start a genocidal rampage, I will remember to bring some Mozart along."

"Ah, you are forgiven then."

"Many thanks, my dear client. Shall we go for the…" She trailed off suddenly and tensed up, her attention drawn to the entrance of the nest. Kuroro found himself tensing up along with her. He could feel something approaching them and it felt… powerful.

Suddenly, a large glob of something green and viscous jetted from the entrance and headed straight for Midoya. With a skillful twist of her ankle, Midoya dodged it but barely. The glob splashed over the vegetation behind her, and the foliage started to melt.

Kuroro's eyebrows went up. Midoya had been alert and focused on the entrance, yet she had barely avoided the attack. He glanced at her face. Her eyes were narrowed and she _wasn't smiling anymore_. Kuroro had never seen her so serious. It made him nervous and just a little turned on.

That was when the snake appeared at the entrance of the nest.

Technically, it wasn't a snake. Snakes, as far as Kuroro knew, did not have human bodies and stand fifteen tall. He also knew that snakes did not, in general, wear purple smoking jackets. Yet, 'snake' was the only way he could think of to describe the creature in front of him. It was the giant cobra head that reared up from the collar of the pokka-dotted button-down shirt that did it for him. A derby hat sat on top of the cobra head. It was too small for it.

A forked tongue snuck out from the snake head and the snake said, in fluent English, "That is enough, stranger. You have killed all our workers and there are now none to forage for food. Our King is most displeased."

"I am afraid," Midoya replied, voice friendly and hostile at the same time, "that the wishes of your King are none of my business. I am here to exterminate the nest – the entire nest."

"Faugh! Humans and your barbaric insensitivities towards the survival of other specieses, "the snake commented disgustedly.

"Apologies," Midoya said sincerely. "I am sorry for you and your kind, but alas, the survival of _my_ species is at stake too."

The hood of the cobra head flared, causing the derby hat to wobble slightly. Evidently Midoya had annoyed the snake with her honest concern for its wellbeing. "I am going to kill you, arrogant human," it hissed. Then to Kuroro's amazement, Nen flooded the length of the snake. Its head reared back and the front of its throat contracted into the collar – then a large amount of the same viscous green liquid that had first attacked Midoya shot out from its mouth.

Midoya jumped aside instantly, avoiding the liquid. Immediately, the snake was sprinting for her, moving at a startling speed. Taken by surprise, Midoya dropped and rolled to the side just as massive fangs snapped at where she had been. Hissing, the snake twisted with the horrible fluid grace of its reptilian side and launched itself bodily at Midoya. Midoya was still on the ground and was forced to roll again to avoid the pounce. The snake landed on bare ground and hissed in anger.

Taking advantage of the pause, Midoya sharply said, "Yang." Instantly, the snake found itself staring at a menacing silver statue brandishing two sharp blades.

Moving faster than he had ever seen her move before, Midoya sprang off the ground and struck at the snake with one of the blades. The blade tore a large gash in the snake's arm. The snake screamed in rage and a massive human hand reached out and slapped at Midoya.

To the best of Kuroro's knowledge, 'Yang' form was, physical attributes-wise, Midoya's most powerful form. Kuroro had seen her take out Ubogin, the strongest member of the Ryodan group, with one blow in that form. He had seen her swim through powerful ocean currents in that form. He had seen her eviscerate a few dozen giant mutated ants in that form. When the snake slapped at her like she was an annoying fly, Midoya in _that form_ flew a good ten feet through the air before crashing to the ground with a horrible _crunch_.

For a tensed second, Midoya lay absolutely still. Just as Kuroro was starting to plan an alternate escape plan, she sat up abruptly. Kuroro eyed her dubiously. Even though she was sitting up now, she did not look good. Large cracks have appeared all over her, and more appeared each time she moved. Suddenly, a chunk of her face simply dropped off. Immediately, Midoya slipped out of her Yang form and back to her human form.

"Ouch," she commented mildly in a distorted voice, hands pressed to her face. "I really don't have any talent with the Reinforcement skills. My defense sucks." She removed her hand from her face and stood up. From where Kuroro was, she did not appear to have any wounds but she was obviously moving much slower than before.

The snake tilted its head at her and hissed again. "I _hurt_ you," it snarled. "Where did all the wounds go to?"

Midoya smiled an odd, lop-sided smile. "Oh, wounds I sustain in that form do not translate to wounds in this form," she explained, her voice slurred and almost incomprehensible. "But, I will still feel the pain and the effects of the wound." That would explain why she was talking like that. Though her face looked complete, to her a piece of her face was still missing.

"I see," the snake hissed, walking towards her. "And it seems to me that you cannot transform into that metal form for a while."

"Not for the next forty-eight hours," Midoya slurred, getting to her feet. She wobbled unsteadily and almost fell over again.

"Then you are defenseless against me," the snake said, hissing with delight. "I can take my time preparing you for my King." Now he was looming over Midoya, cavernous mouth opened wide over her. "My Serpent's Spit will dissolve you into an easily digestible mush that will nourish my King. That, and the supply of food in storage, will sustain the King until more workers can be born." The forked tongue darted out, almost touching Midoya. "What? Silent now, arrogant human?" it sneered.

"Hardly. I was merely feeling sad," Midoya managed to mumble. "I am very sorry."

The entire length of the snake's body quivered with rage. "What did you say?" it hissed. "You are sorry? What are you sorry about?"

"For what's going to happen."

"Are you threatening me in this state, human?"

"I meant," Midoya said painfully, "that poison is sometimes best fought with poison. Ying." Suddenly, her form dispersed into a white mist.

The snake gasped in surprise, which proved to be a fatal mistake. Midoya, in mist form, surged into its mouth and the snake screamed in agony as its mouth started to blister. It didn't scream for long though as Midoya gushed down its throat, scorching it. Kuroro watched as the snake started to stagger around, clutching at its throat. Frantically, it started to claw at its throat, but it was too late; the battle had already been won. After a minute, the snake's struggles slowed. Its arms swayed slowly then it swerved in a wild semi-circle before collapsing onto the ground where it lay twitching. Strange lumps started to move under its scales. After a moment, Kuroro realized they were bubbles. The flesh of the snake was boiling from the inside out. Even as he looked, the scales started to melt as well, and eventually, there was nothing left but a damp purple smoking jacket, pokka-dotted shirt, black slacks and derby hat.

A white mist swirled out of one of the legs of the pants, animating it briefly. Slowly, Midoya's human form reappeared and she looked down at the empty clothes. "Hate doing that," she mumbled painfully. Abruptly, she sat down on the ground as her legs gave way. Quickly, Kuroro made his way down the tree and headed for her.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Hate doing this," she mumbled again, still looking at the empty clothes, a look of misery on her face. "Always feel bad." Kuroro glanced at the clothes. There was something almost pitiful about the way the clothes lay there, still neatly buttoned-up, as if waiting for its owner to return and fill it again.

"It's a pathetic way to die," Kuroro agreed. "Now stop feeling sorry for it. It was going to do the same thing to you, and it wasn't going to feel sorry for you either."

"Not sorry for _it_. Sorry for _me_. Makes me sick," Midoya mumbled. "In pain. Five minutes."

"The pain will fade in five minutes?" Kuroro asked.

Midoya nodded but didn't say anything. She looked exhausted and hurt so Kuroro sat down next to her and lowered her head onto his shoulder. She groaned softly in agony as he did and slumped onto the muddy ground. Oops. Kuroro pressed his fingers to her pulse. It was weak and erratic but still there. Briefly, Kuroro considered picking her up and carrying her back to the campsite, but it seemed impractical to do so. Even if the usual dangers of the swamp were no threat to him, it would still be silly carrying an unconscious person through a swamp of gators. He might as well hang chunks of raw meat from his neck. The best thing he could do was to wait for Midoya to wake up. She _did_ say she would be fine in five minutes, and he just had to hope that she knew what she was saying.

For the next five minutes, Kuroro crouched tensely beside Midoya's unnervingly still body with a machete in hand just in case some other ant decided to drop by and spit acidic stuff on them. These ants and their bodily fluids…

After a while, Midoya's fingers twitched. Then with a soft sigh, she sat up moving her jaw. "Okay, much better," she said, her enunciation much clearer than before. She worked her jaw a bit then nodded. "I wouldn't be fully healed for a while, but at least I'm functional now."

"Are you still capable of fighting?" Kuroro asked.

"Yes," she said, standing up and brushing her clothes down.

Kuroro looked at her with an assessing look. She did look a lot better now, but he wondered what price she had to pay for it. She herself had admitted that her talent in the Reinforcement skills was sadly lacking, and fast healing _was_ a Reinforcement skill. That could of course be made up for by restrictions on her abilities – heavy restrictions. Come to think of it, to transform her entire body with Nen for extended periods of time was a ridiculously difficult skill. Midoya could, not only transform into one form, but _two_. "What kind of restrictions do you have?" he wondered aloud. "To acquire this level of Nen?"

Midoya laughed. "Why do you want to know?" she asked, a mysterious smile on her face.

"Curiosity," Kuroro said with a shrug. "It is a professional hazard. When I…" He broke off suddenly, a startled look on his face. He had almost told her the criteria he needed to meet to steal a person's powers. That had _never_ happened before.

"When you what?" Midoya asked absently, already moving towards the entrance of the base.

"Nothing," Kuroro said then remembered that she could tell when he was lying, so he quickly added, "which is a white lie to protect my privacy, and which has nothing to do with any trust issue I have with you."

Midoya shot him an amused look. "You didn't abandon me when I passed out," she said. "That is assurance enough."

"Oh. That's… nice." He must have looked confused because Midoya glanced at his face and started to laugh softly, shaking her head.

"Indeed. Well, what are you waiting for now?" Midoya asked playfully. "Let's go hunt the King."

"Of course," Kuroro replied, climbing to his feet as well.

And with that, they ventured into the heart of the nest.

* * *

><p>In general, saying something like "they ventured into the heart of the nest" sounds very cool and adventurous.<p>

Kuroro half-wished he hadn't put it that way. The phrase 'venture into the heart of the nest' sounded so exciting and dangerous, and truthfully, Kuroro had been expecting something quite thrilling and otherworldly. Unfortunately, walking into a hole in a tree did nothing more than reveal a hole in a tree. The insides of the tree, at least fifteen feet wide at the base, had been hollowed out. Other than that, the ants had made no other adjustment to it. There were no strange creatures hanging from the sides of the tree, no slimy substances dripping from the top of the tree, and certainly no giant King.

For a moment, the two of them looked around, perplexed. "This can't be right," Midoya said. "The King I saw was huge. It couldn't have simply vanished."

"You are right," Kuroro agreed. "There must be another entrance. Let's look."

"Okay."

Fortunately, the hole wasn't big so they didn't have to look long. "Ah, I found it," Kuroro said suddenly. "Look." He kicked away a pile of debris to reveal a good-sized hole in the ground, big enough for the larger ants to enter. "This is the real entrance to the nest." The both of them leaned over to look inside. It was too dark to see much, but from the way the air smelt, the hole went down quite a distance.

"Nice," Midoya commented. "Do you think there will be a lot more ants down there?"

"Perhaps." Then because he couldn't resist provoking her, he added, "Are you afraid?"

"Horribly afraid," Midoya replied, opening her eyes wide with mock terror. "Wouldn't you be my bravest hero and protect a teeny-weeny little missus like me?" Grinning, she pointed at the hole, "Go ahead and jump first, my hero."

"Ladies first," Kuroro countered on the general principle that one should never do what one is told.

"Do I look like a lady to you?" Midoya asked, a smile on her face as she gestured to her torn, muddy clothes covered with the remains of giant mutant ants.

"True enough," Kuroro said mildly. "Powerful-Blacklist-Hunters-who-_can_-use-their-Nen first then."

Chuckling, Midoya dropped into the hole. Her laughter echoed as she fell. Kuroro smiled to himself and started to count off mentally. _One thousand. Two thousand. Three thousand… _At the tenth count, he slipped himself into the hole. Following that was a bewildering blur of dark, damp and sharp stones that somehow managed to find themselves into his shirt. Perhaps another ten counts later, he landed agilely on solid ground, trying to shake the sharp stones out of his shirt.

A warm hand touched his arm. Midoya. He couldn't see her in the dark yet, but he recognized her touch, almost as familiar as his own. Gently, she squeezed his arm; a warning to stay still. Freezing in a crouch, Kuroro remained entirely still until his eyes started to adjust to the dark. Then he realized why Midoya had asked him to not move. They were in a vast cavern, obviously the living quarters of the nest. The ground was covered with dried leaves and branches. From the ceiling of the cavern hung hundreds of cocoons wrapped in the same sticky fluid Kuroro had become intimately familiar with. These cocoons did not contain food though. From the shapes within, Kuroro guessed these were the larvae of the _Juwasi_.

As he watched, one of the cocoons started to move. Then with a wet sound, the cocoon split open and an ant dropped onto the ground. Kuroro only got a vague impression of insect legs and a fish's head before Midoya leapt on the ant and reduced it to an indistinct pile of flesh and bones.

For a while after the burst of violence, they remained still again, straining to see if their presence has been noticed. At first there was only silence then a loud groaning sound echoed through the cavern. The sound filled the vast cavern, shaking the ground and causing loose soil and stones to jitter and chatter on the ground. It did not come from an animal's mouth, Kuroro realized with a start. The groaning was the sound of earth compressing under a massive weight. He glanced at Midoya and nodded. She nodded back and they started to move towards the sound.

It was too dark for Kuroro to see much, but he got the sense that the cavern might be much larger than he had initially expected. He had a hunch that the number of larva in the cavern might count in the thousands as opposed to hundreds. He also had a feeling that these particular breed of ants needed a very specific kind of environment to incubate in. There wasn't much ventilation so the air smelt damp and stale, and the mud under them was wet and slushy, just like the soil in the swamps. The temperatures were much cooler underground than above too. If the ants chose to put their larva here, it must be because the eggs needed low oxygen levels, moisture and cooler temperatures to hatch. Knowing this would be the key to destroying such a large nest. He briefly considered telling Midoya his thoughts, but decided against it in favour of stealth.

Abruptly, his thoughts were interrupted when the ground under him started to groan and shake again. Both of them froze in place for a while but the sound ceased almost instantly. Then Midoya touched his arm and pulled him gently towards the left. Kuroro turned his head just in time to see a shadow, even darker than the darkness in the cavern, glide from the floor and up a wall.

_Above them_.

If this was a movie, Kuroro would have been slowly turning his head to catch a glimpse of massive jaws and dripping saliva, just before they clamped around his neck and removed his head from his body in a graphic display of fetishized violence. Fortunately, Kuroro was not in a movie. When he looked up, all he saw was the blackness of the roof of the cavern. No horrible creature loomed over him, ready to separate his head from his body.

Then he realized he _was_ looking at a creature. He just hadn't realized it because the creature covered the _entire ceiling_.

Slowly, a long shadow detached from the ceiling. At the same time, they entire cavern shuddered and groaned. Kuroro started in surprise when he realized he was looking at a monstrous, gigantic forty-foot spider.

"Of course it has to be a spider," he sighed almost inaudibly. "I absolutely detest spiders, those appalling, _creepy_ creatures."

Even in the dark, he could see Midoya staring at him in disbelief. "You dislike spiders? Kuroro, I don't know if you've noticed but your bandit organization uses the spider as its symbol. You have a _spider tattoo_."

"Yes, I know. I chose the spider deliberately. What better way to inspire terror than to adopt the grossest, most disgusting creature on earth as your emblem?"

"That… actually made sense, in a very Kuroro way." Midoya shook her head. "Anyway, how do you propose we take down… _that_?"

Kuroro turned to regard the King. As he watched, the spider's massive jaws opened and the pink tube he had seen earlier extended slightly before retracting. A shudder ran through his body. "Insect repellent," he muttered.

"I only have fifty millitres of insect repellent in my pocket," Midoya said with dry sarcasm. "I might be able tickle it with that. Besides, spiders aren't insects. It would be rude to use insect repellent against a creature that is not an insect."

"A good alternative," Kuroro mused, ignoring her response with great dignity, "would be fire. A lot of fire." He glanced around the cavern. "It seems to me that this cavern doesn't have any other openings other than the one we came in through. The number of openings must be tightly controlled to maintain a stable environment for the larvae to mature. If we set a fire here, we would be able to extinguish all the cocoons and the King."

Midoya nodded thoughtfully. "You know," she said slowly, "I do have more of those fireworks lying around. That makes a nice spark and all the foliage on the ground will burn very nicely."

"Excellent," Kuroro murmured. "On that note, I really wanted to ask you. How on earth did you find fireworks in the middle of a swamp?"

"Find? Oh no, I brought them along with me. I always carry fireworks with me."

"Whatever for?"

"Because," Midoya whispered as they started to make their way back to the entrance of the nest, "you never know when you want to celebrate something."

* * *

><p>The moon was reaching its zenith when the first of the fireworks exploded out of the tree. Out in the swamps, away from the never-ending pulse of the city, the night was unearthly and mystical under the pale glow of the moon. Even the burst of fireworks in the sky failed to spoil that. Kuroro stretched his legs out in front of him and leaned back on his arms so he could watch the fireworks ricochet around before exploding in a beautiful burst of purple and red.<p>

"Beer?" Midoya asked, passing him a can.

"Thanks." Kuroro accepted the can and pulled open the tab.

Silently, they sat together, sipping beer and watching the fireworks exploding into the starry night sky. Now that it was night, the weather was deliciously cool and it was wonderful to lean back and relax after a hard day's work. Kuroro closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. Even the air smelt still. It was gratifyingly relaxing.

"It's pretty," Midoya said, smiling serenely. "The fireworks look gorgeous in the sky."

"It is," Kuroro agreed. "It reminds me of this festival I once witnessed in Japan, where they set off fireworks all night long. I had a fantastic view from the top of the _yakuza_-funded National Financial Consultants building." He sat silently for a while then, as an afterthought, added, "I was robbing the building, you see."

"I see. That's nice."

They fell silent as more fireworks erupted and lit up the night sky in flashes of green and gold. Somewhere in the distance, an animal, probably a wild hog grunted. A refreshing breeze carrying the odour of the swamp swept over them, rustling their clothes. Kuroro sighed contentedly. It was so wonderfully peaceful.

"This was quite a wonderful vacation. I am quite glad you suggested it."

"You're welcome. It is a pity we can't bring our trophies back though."

The ground started shaking violently. A distance away, a giant spider covered entirely in flames erupted from the ground roaring in agony and rage. It staggered wildly, limbs thrashing frantically as it tried to put out the flames.

"You really don't have much luck with trophies in this swamp," Kuroro commented idly, sipping more beer.

"That is so true. I need to find a new place to hunt in."

The spider started to scuttle up the tree that had once been its home, still roaring. The entire tree shook under its weight and started to catch fire.

"How about the savannahs of the African continent?"

"Been there, done that."

"Oh. Rainforests of Xinpo? I heard their wild cats grow to the size of a standard York Shin bus."

"Oh, but I _like_ cats. I don't want to shoot them."

"I see. That is a dilemma."

Half way up the tree, the spider started to slow down. Then it dropped from the tree and landed on the ground with a massive thud that shook the earth. Its limbs curled up and it became still.

"What a peaceful night," Kuroro said happily, emptying his can of beer. "What a peaceful vacation."

"Mmm. More beer?"

"We have more beer? How many cans of beer did you bring?" he asked, taking the offered can. "I know we used a good lot of it on the dried foliage to help it light up faster."

"We did. I bought along four dozen cans," Midoya replied. "These are the last of it."

"Why did you bring four dozen cans of beer for a three day trip?" Kuroro asked bemused.

"Because I wanted to get you drunk, but had no idea how high your alcohol tolerance is."

Kuroro glanced sideways at Midoya. Her face was dyed a pretty yellow and red glow by the last of the fireworks, and she was smiling serenely at the forest, which had started to catch fire. "Why did you want to get me drunk?" he asked mildly.

"So I can take advantage of your virtue of course," she replied placidly.

A comfortable silence fell over the pair as they watched a small patch of forest start to burn up. Then Kuroro drained the rest of his beer in one swallow. In the fading light of the fireworks, they reached for each other, sliding slowly to the ground together, wrapped in each other's warmth. A cool breeze swept over them, carrying bits of the charred remains of foliage and ants. The fire started to spread, getting uncomfortably close to where they were sitting. An alligator caught and ate a deer in a distant pool of water. Neither noticed.

As they started to undress, the last thought on Kuroro's mind was, "We really should be putting out that fire…"

* * *

><p><span>AN: Thank you for reading! Please leave a review if you have the time!

Trivial: As is well known by now, Miharu May Kito had great hopes for her daughter's future as a musician. As such, from the moment Midoya June Kito acquired a certain degree of hand-eye coordination, she was subjected to numerous music lessons in various musical instruments. However, though she proved to be remarkably talented in the piano, flute and violin, as she was in most other things, Midoya June Kito showed absolutely no gift for singing. Her vocal coach spent hours upon hours trying to teach Midoya the proper use of the diaphragm, the different ways of controlling the sounds emitting from her mouth and other vocal techniques, but failed miserably to bring out the opera singer that Miharu May Kito was _sure_ was hiding somewhere beneath the toddler's skin. It wasn't that Midoya had difficulty learning the techniques. If anything, she grasped the concept of using her diaphragm very quickly. However, much to the despair of her vocal coach (who had once turned a tone-deaf homeless boy into an international singing sensation), the sounds that came out of her mouth sounded nothing like singing and a lot like wailing.

Despite numerous suggestions by the vocal coach for Midoya to simply give up, Miharu May Kito (who sat in the corner of the room during each lesson stubbornly declaring, "I am sure that note was _almost_ on pitch!" or "Look! She didn't shatter the windows this time!") refused to give up her dream of seeing her daughter on stage as the new prima donna. In a desperate and somewhat hysterical attempt to prove the vocal coach wrong, Miharu May Kito organized a concert for her daughter, with the grand finale being Midoya's vocal rendition of Richard Wagner's _The Ride of the Valkyries_. The Mayor of York Shin City was invited, as were several other important politicians and the heads of the five most important mafia families in York Shin.

By the end of the night, out of the fifty people invited, there were thirty-six casualties, out of which, ten were injured badly enough they needed to be hospitalized and four were dead. No one is quite sure what happened. Eye-witness accounts varied from ninja assassins descending from the ceiling to a stampede of pink elephants. What everyone could agree on, however, was that it all started the moment the young Kito heir had stepped onto stage and started producing that _awful_ sound.

Accusations were thrown back and forth, all centered on the young Midoya June Kito. Criminal charges contending that she was a public menace were raised; the subject of banning her from ever singing again was thrown about in Parliament; parent groups campaigning against the overexposure of young children to stardom were formed; the Mafia couldn't decide if assassinating a child was beneath them and ended up having a major internal war that ended with the formation of the Ten Godfathers as a way of preventing future wars. Eventually, all charges against Midoya were dropped. As Zeno Zoldyck pointed out when asked to assassinate the child, only politicians and gangsters were hurt during the concert after all so was the concert really that big a disaster after all?


	12. Crabs, Jyonen and Other Scandalous Thing

A/N: This story is rated M for adult themes. The opinions of the characters do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the author.

Thank you to all those who have read (and reviewed) this story! It is greatly appreciated!

I do not own Hunter X Hunter or any other mentioned literature/books in this story. 

* * *

><p><span>Crabs, Jyonen and Other Scandalous Things<span>

As it turned out, they didn't need to put out the fire. Just as things were starting to get interesting, a heavy shower of rain started, putting an end to the budding fire and Midoya's attempt on Kuroro's virtue. That was most unfortunate, in Kuroro's opinion (the stop to her attempt on his virtue, not the extinguishment of the fire), but there was nothing for it. Neither of them was inclined to partake in the pleasures of the flesh under heavy rain on wet, slippery, mushy mud. So, they had chosen to start the three hour trek back to the campsite instead.

Despite the rain, that had been successful enough, and they reached the campsite drenched but intact. There, the removal of clothing had commenced. Unfortunately, it also ended at that.

"We need to get a fire started," Midoya had said briskly, "we don't want to get pneumonia."

Agreeing that postponing all carnal activities in favour of avoiding death by pneumonia was the most logical course of action, Kuroro had helped Midoya start a nice, cheery fire in the hut. Then there had been a flurry of activity where they put their clothes up to dry and tried to cook some crabs they had found hiding in their boat over hot stones. While they waited for the food to cook, the both of them huddled together under a thin blanket. In Kuroro's well-read opinion, rather mature activities should start happening once their naked bodies were pressed together. Midoya obviously begged to differ because she fell asleep the moment she was in his arms. In her defense, Kuroro mused as he cradled her limp, snoring form in his arms, it had been a long day for her and she was still suffering from the injuries she sustained in her Yang form. She deserved some rest.

Still, fifteen minutes later, Kuroro was forced to wake her up so she could get some hot food in her.

"Ummm still sleepy… face hurts… and my butt's numb…" she mumbled as she sat up wobbly.

"Be good," Kuroro said as he tried to coax her into accepting a crab on a skewer. "The hot food will help you recover faster."

"Mmmm… ok…" she mumbled and took the skewer. Sleepily, she retreated back into his arms and started to eat. Once he was certain she wasn't going to fall asleep again and drop the hot food on very sensitive parts of his anatomy, Kuroro started to eat as well.

"This is cozy," Midoya said, sounding more awake. She shifted so her back was leaning against his chest and tucked her head under his neck. "Put your arms around me," she demanded.

Kuroro hummed in agreement and obligingly put his arms around her. He continued to eat, dropping bits of crab on Midoya occasionally. She didn't seem to mind, simply flicking the bits of food away. Soon, the food was finished.

"Feeling better?" Kuroro asked quietly.

"Mmm," Midoya murmured, eyes half-closed. "The food was a good idea."

They sat in total silence, watching the fire, and after a while, Midoya started to snore again. What with the silence, the exhaustive day and the warmth from the fire, eventually Kuroro started to nod off as well.

A phone rang.

Kuroro's head snapped up, startled out of his half-doze by the unexpected sound of a voice of indeterminate gender wailing about slitting wrists. "It's mine," Midoya said apologetically, climbing out of his arms. "My phone is specially built so it has reception, even in places like this." She dug out the phone and said, "Hello." Then she blinked in surprise. "Oh. Hi. Yes, I missed you too. Hmmm? I'm not wearing anything, why are you asking? I can't hear what you're saying if you keep laughing like… who? Oh, he's right here." She crawled towards Kuroro and held the phone out to him, "Yours."

Kuroro stared at the phone sleepily then took it. "Kuroro," he said, careful to keep the fatigue out of his voice.

"_Ah! My beautiful Kuroro!"_ Hisoka's voice moaned. Instantly, Kuroro was wide awake, body ready to either fight or run away very, _very_ quickly. He shook his head and managed to still his body's reflexive response to Hisoka's voice.

"Hello, Hisoka," he greeted calmly.

"_Hello! I have been trying to call you for so long! When I couldn't get through, I was forced to hunt down the delicious Pepeka to get Midoya-chan's phone number! Oh, it was a wonderful hunt, but we wasted so much time chasing each other along the romantic beaches of the Kyne Island…" _

"Hisoka, what is it?" Kuroro asked patiently.

"_What do you mean by that, my delicious fruit? There can only be one reason for calling you of course." _

Kuroro's eyes widened slightly. "You mean…"

"_I've found your Jyonen-user. You should hurry back; we've been waiting for you for four days now, and the deal is, he only waits one day more. You have twenty-four hours to get back." _

* * *

><p>The race back to York Shin, Kuroro mused, was almost funny in how frantic it was. The moment Hisoka had informed Kuroro of his success in locating a Jyonen-user, they had started to pack to leave. There had been only two hours left till daylight anyway, and neither of them was inclined to sleep anymore. They had, in theory, twenty-four hours to get back to York Shin City (Kuroro was hoping Hisoka would protest <em>violently but harmlessly<em> if the Jyonen-user tried to leave but then he remembered that he could not remember the last time Hisoka wasn't violent and… well…). Unfortunately, when they had travelled from York Shin to Lori Town, it had taken them a little under twenty-three hours. That was cutting it too close. So fifteen minutes after Hisoka's call found them in the speedboat, racing towards the nearest town with an airfield. With a great deal of indifference to the general well-being of the speedboat, Kuroro navigated the boat speedily through the obstacles of the swamp. He successfully dodged floating logs, exposed tree roots and alligators then accidentally drove the boat into one of the transparent ducks. It bounced off the side of the boat like a rubber ball and landed in the water a distance away where it spun in a circle, trying to get its bearings.

"Sorry," Kuroro said insincerely as they sped past.

"Quack," the duck shot back with hurt dignity and dived beneath the surface of the water.

Somehow, they managed to make a five hour trip in four hours without damaging the speedboat too badly. Yes, the speedboat's engine made some rather alarming sounds along the way, and the paneling of the boat started to come apart, but it otherwise remained mostly in the shape of a boat.

At the airport, Kuroro had been rather alarmed to find out the earliest flight to York Shin City was two days away. The Lori Town airport was a very tiny airport that catered almost specifically to tourists entering the Lori Swamps, so he really should have expected that. Still, that did not change the fact that he really didn't have two days to wait. Any amount of negotiation, counter-banging and outright threats did nothing to change things, so Midoya simply decided to buy the entire airport. With a couple of phone calls, the Kito financial machine roared into action. While Kuroro sat in a corner, amusedly annoyed by the sudden appearance of a large team of flustered bureaucrats carrying piles of paper, the mayor of Lori Town and the president of the entire country (both of them greeted Midoya by name with a great deal of false cheer and an equal dose of real fear), Midoya snapped orders, shook hands and had the paperwork done within an hour.

Ten minutes later, they were climbing into a private blimp, piloted by a handsome young man who smiled too much.

"Hi!" the pilot said cheerfully when they boarded the blimp. "I am your captain…"

"I don't care," Kuroro replied coolly. "Get us to York Shin City within eight hours, please, or I will be very annoyed with you."

"The flight will take at least ten hours…"

"My good man," Kuroro said, putting a heavy hand on the pilot's shoulder, "I want you to forget whatever you know regarding the flight to York Shin. Instead, keep only one thing in mind: you _really do not want to see me annoyed_."

"Okay!" the pilot said, still smiling brightly though his face was starting to stream with sweat. "Let's get you buckled in and we can take off!"

"Thank you," Midoya told him with a sympathetic pat on the shoulder. "Don't worry about the scary man. He wouldn't do anything that will impede your ability to fly the blimp."

"You only need your arms right?" Kuroro murmured, eyes glittering menacingly.

"We look forward to flying with you!" Midoya said loudly and started to push the unresisting, wide-eyed pilot into the cockpit. "Nice meeting you, Mister Captain!"

In record time, the blimp was in the air and they were on their way to York Shin City.

"You know, I never knew blimps can break the sound barrier," Midoya commented as they watched the land beneath them speed past.

"You never know what you can do till you try," Kuroro said with great conviction.

Seven hours, fifty-five minutes and thirty-four seconds later, the private blimp touched down in York Shin City. ("See what one can accomplish when one puts one's mind to it, Midoya?")

"I hoped you enjoyed your flight," the sweating, gasping pilot whimpered as they left the blimp.

"We did. It was very… fast. Thank you. Good job," Midoya said politely.

"And I hoped you learned something from this," Kuroro added, clapping the pilot on the shoulder.

They walked away, leaving the pilot to collapse behind them. At the exit of the airport, they found a black car waiting for them, just like when Kuroro had first asked Midoya for help.

"It is rush hour," Kuroro said as he slid into the driver's seat. "We could be trapped in traffic for hours."

"Not an issue," Midoya said and pulled out her phone. She dialed a number and waited. "Ah, hello Commissioner. This is June Kito. Yes, I am fine, thank you. How are the kids? Wonderful. How about the illegitimate kids? I see! I'll be sure to send flowers to the grave. Now listen, I am going to be travelling down Blake Street from the airport on Highway 4a, and I will need to do so at the speed of a hundred miles an hour now. Yes, I did say 'now'. So if you could please make sure the roads are clear…? Yes, I really wouldn't want to accidentally run over somebody. You know it always makes me cry inside. Excellent. Yes, please remember that no one is to know _I_ made this request. Indeed. Thank you." With a smile on her face, she hung up.

Kuroro glanced at her. "Did you just…?"

"A hundred miles an hour, darling," Midoya said cheerily. "We still have some ways to go. And keep your head down; we wouldn't want you to be recognized." From somewhere, she produced a hat and a pair of shades, and put them on him. The hat smelled like hair gel and perspiration. Kuroro wondered where she had gotten the items from and whether he should be worried about head lice. "Now go! Time is of the essence!"

Kuroro had to agree with that, so he stomped down on the accelerator and started to roar down the highway. Immediately, the results of Midoya's call could be seen. Police blockages could be seen at every junction, holding off angry, blaring traffic. When Kuroro turned onto Blake Street, he slowed down out of habit. However, he didn't need to; the roads were entirely empty.

"Midoya, you are like a god," Kuroro breathed, almost moved to tears. He pressed down on the accelerator again, and took off down Blake Street at a hundred miles per hour during peak period.

"Anyone can be like a god when you have pictures of the Commissioner doing the dirty with a dominatrix – a transvestite dominatrix."

Kuroro opened his mouth to ask how she had gotten hold of pictures like that then realized he probably didn't want to know. "How much time do we have left?" he asked instead.

Midoya glanced at the car's digital clock. "Technically, ten hours left," she said.

"There's still a six hour drive." Kuroro smiled. "We can make it." Then more seriously, "Aren't you afraid that using June Kito's influence like this will draw attention to your association with me?"

Midoya laughed. "Don't worry," she said, "I do this on quite a regular basis. The Hunter's Association stopped taking note a long time ago."

"You stop traffic, buy airports and blackmail politicians on a regular basis," Kuroro commented, amused. "Your life is fantastic." Smiling, he started to relax into his seat in preparation for a long drive. For the first time since he got Hisoka's call, he found his heartbeat slowing down and his breathing regulating. It was a relief to be able to rest after the frantic rush from the Lori Swamps.

"What are you saying?" Midoya asked, in response to his comment earlier. "You massacre tribes, murder mafia bosses and rob auctions on a regular basis. _Your_ life is fantastic."

"I must admit I do enjoy my way of life. On that note," Kuroro added as he started to leave Blake Street behind, "have you thought about it?"

"What?"

"Joining the Ryodan." He glanced at her. "We have a position open. I mentioned that to you before?"

"Oh. I haven't thought about it. I thought your offer was just one of the odd things you like to talk about during sex. Like the last time, you kept mumbling about spirits of the dead and how they are always watching us. I was honestly quite worried, I must say, because I wasn't sure if you were seriously discussing the possibilities of an afterlife with me while we were joined at the hips or if you thought it would make things kinkier if we pretended dead people were watching us do the dirty."

"Is that why you kept saying, 'Yes, I see the ghostly grey woman with a huge hole in her chest looking at us too'?"

"Oh yes. I decided to go along with my second guess so I was pretending I could see dead people too."

"I confess to being mildly disturbed. I should probably stop making serious conversation during sex then." Kuroro drove in silence for a while then asked, "So how about it? Would you be interested in joining the Ryodan?"

To his surprise, Midoya actually seemed to be considering it seriously. "Why should I join the Ryodan?" she asked finally.

Kuroro thought about that for a while. "We all joined the Ryodan for different reasons," he said, "but the general rule is that when one joins the Ryodan, it is because one cannot find satisfaction through any other means." He paused again then explained, "Not even through being a normal criminal. When a man becomes a burglar, what does he get? He gets material satisfaction; he gets money, he gets items and goods. But for most of his life outside the job, he lives as a normal person, subject to the laws of society. When you're with the Ryodan… it's different. Yes, we want the money and we want the objects we steal, but at the same time… We want to do things our way all the time." He smiled. "The Ryodan is for people who just want to be who they want to be. It is a place for people to live beyond the established systems and ideologies of the world."

Midoya nodded thoughtfully. "And you think I can fit in?" she asked. "You think that I am someone who desires that? To be beyond the systems of the world that governs us, that dictates our behavior based on our gender, our race, our social class or even our legal status? You believe that I want to remove myself entirely from the system?"

"Yes," Kuroro said confidently. "You were born a Kito. You were born into a position more heavily scrutinized and more hastily judged than most. You know better than most what it means to be forced into a mould by the system. If you were satisfied being that little doll in a glass box, you wouldn't have learned Nen, you wouldn't have become a Hunter, and you most certainly wouldn't have a 'June Kito' costume that you slip into when you return to the Kito estate." He glanced at her, and from the look on her face, he knew he had struck a nerve. "Now," he went on, "the question really is, _is being a Hunter satisfying enough_?" He paused and looked at her face again, but her face had gone entirely blank and unreadable. "To be a Hunter is still to be governed by the system, no?" Kuroro said reasonably. "Just look at the way we had to scuttle around the eyes of the Hunter's Association during this entire operation. Even though you avoid the system as much as you can, you still have to take it into account every time you act."

"Yes," Midoya said quietly. "That is true. But the Ryodan still lives by a system; _your_ system, as flexible and as… _open_ as it is."

"Indeed," Kuroro agreed, deciding to back off for the moment. "Perhaps the next question you have to consider is whether the system the Ryodan functions by is better than the ones you now live by. In other words, even if you are unsatisfied with being a Hunter, is the Ryodan a better alternative?" He fell silent and waited for her response, but she didn't say anything. Instead, she chose to stare out of the window at the scenery.

Finally, Midoya said, "I like you, Kuroro. I admire you a lot. Even without your Nen, you are a dangerous person because of how smart you are and how calm you are in nasty situations. I do not normally follow anyone's lead; you are right when you say I do not like having to fit into any given system; but you are the kind of person I can see myself following. You are the kind of person I can accept orders from without feeling… put down."

"I sense a 'but' there."

"As do I," Midoya said with a little laugh, "I just have no idea what comes after the 'but'." She looked at him seriously. "Why do you want me to join the Ryodan? What do you gain from it?" she asked.

"Your talents," Kuroro said immediately. "You are smart, strong and fearless. You think outside the box so often I sometimes wonder if you even realize a box exists. You have no moral qualms about legally questionable activities. You would fit right in with the Ryodan. Besides, after this incident with the chain-person, I have come to realize that the Ryodan needs someone else who can take over as leader in my absence. Shalnark is smart, but he isn't forceful enough to assert his leadership. Phinx is forceful enough, but he isn't charismatic enough to convince people to follow him. On the other hand, I can see you getting the Ryodan to follow you. I know you can; sometimes I find myself following your lead, and I've never done that for anyone before."

"Aren't you afraid I will steal your position?"

"Hardly," Kuroro said, with a smile. "I've known most of the members since we were kids, and that counts for quite a bit with the Ryodan. Anyway, if you are good enough to take my position, it would probably be better for the Ryodan if I surrender my position to you anyway."

"Hmm," Midoya murmured then turned to look out of the window again. "I can't decide now," she said, "not without some sleep and food."

"There's no hurry," Kuroro told her. "You can take your time deciding."

"Okay." Then oddly enough, she asked, "Will you dislike me if I say no?"

Kuroro tried to keep the shock off his face. That was such a… He glanced at her. She looked back at him with steady, calm eyes, but to Kuroro, she had never looked more vulnerable, even when lying unconscious in the middle of an ant-infested swamp. "I think it is impossible for me to dislike you," he finally said. "I tried to distrust you, as you know, but upon reviewing my actions this entire operation, I find that everything I did was based on the assumption that you will be loyal to me and that you will successfully pull off our missions. And despite my misgivings about asking for your help, we ended up renewing our relationship."

"Relationship," Midoya repeated, sounding amused. "You know, Pepeka once asked me exactly what our relationship is. I had to tell him I have no idea. What would you call a relationship such as ours, Kuroro?"

"Our relationship," Kuroro replied, and a short laugh escaped him. "What does it matter what we call it? For me, I think that our relationship can just be called 'our relationship' because it is exactly that. It is only what we want it to be."

"So that's Kuroro Lucifer's system at work," Midoya said, starting to smile. "I like it."

"Thank you. I like it too."

They fell silent again as the city zipped by. The roads were still surreally empty, so instead of watching the roads, Kuroro watched the city lights zip past. Shades of neon pink, green and orange dyed the interior of the car a kaleidoscope of colours, adding to the dream-like sensation of the experience. Then it began to rain, as it often did in York Shin, a drizzle that turned the world into a hazy landscape of multi-coloured lights. Instantly, buildings and familiar landscapes vanished or became distorted. Kuroro looked around. Though he had only been away from York Shin for a day, the city had suddenly become alien to him.

He blinked. It must be the lack of sleep; for a moment, he felt like he had fallen under a spell – a spell which Midoya broke by saying, "Say" in a very thoughtful voice.

"Say what?"

"Say if I join the Ryodan…"

"Yes?"

"Does that mean I have to call you 'Dancho' when we're having sex?"

* * *

><p>Six hours and twenty minutes later, Kuroro pulled up in front of the abandoned building that had functioned as their base. As they got out of the car, Hisoka came up to meet them, a wide grin on his face. "You made it," he purred happily. "Kuroro, Midoya-chan."<p>

"Hisoka," Kuroro greeted evenly as Midoya smiled in greeting. "The Jyonen-user?"

"Inside." Hisoka gestured with his thumb and began leading them into the building immediately. "I honestly cannot wait," he said, eyes glowing with anticipation and lust.

"I hope it wouldn't take long," Kuroro agreed politely and made a note to wriggle out of the fight the first chance he got.

"It wouldn't," a new voice said testily, "and it would have taken a lot less time if you had showed up earlier."

A young man stepped forward to meet them, his hand extended in greeting though a frown creased a plain, almost forgettable face. Kuroro grasped the hand and looked the newcomer over (dark skin, intelligent eyes, obviously very annoyed). "Kuroro," he said with a polite smile. "Pleased to meet you."

"Abengane," the newcomer said bluntly. "You must be the one that has been cursed."

"Yes," Kuroro agreed. "And you must be the one here to get me out of this quandary."

"Okay," Abengane said, nodding. "Your man here, Hisoka promised me five billion zennis for the exorcism. Now…" He stopped suddenly, a look of bemusement and wariness on his face as he looked past Kuroro. Leaning closer to Kuroro, he whispered, "Is that… is that woman behind you Blacklist Hunter Midoya?"

"No," Kuroro and Midoya said at the same time.

Abengane's brows lifted. "No?" he asked. "I have seen Hunter Midoya around the Hunter's Association building very often. She's very noticeable because people keep avoiding her. You definitely look like her."

"She's not Blacklist Hunter Midoya," Kuroro said.

"Nope, I'm definitely not," Midoya agreed.

"Any resemblance you see is purely a figment of your imagination," Kuroro said, waving his hands dismissively.

"You have a very vivid imagination," Midoya agreed emphatically.

"Oh really?" Abengane asked, intelligent eyes darting between them.

"Yes," Midoya said cheerily. "By the way, have you heard of the Jyonen-user database in the Hunter's Association building?"

Abengane froze, eyes narrowing. "I have heard rumours. What do you know about it?"

"That it is a _very comprehensive_ database," Midoya said and smiled sweetly.

A tensed silence fell over the four of them then Abengane said, "You know, on closer inspection, you look nothing like Blacklist Hunter Midoya at all. I _do_ have a very vivid imagination it seems."

"That's not a problem," Midoya beamed. "I always appreciate a vivid imagination, when it remains as that."

"Of course," Abengane said, suddenly all smiles. "Now, about the Jyonen…"

"Yes," Kuroro said, taking a seat. Midoya and Hisoka remained standing a distance away. "Are you aware of the conditions placed on me?"

"Hisoka has explained," Abengane replied, taking a seat as well. "A chain has been wrapped around your heart, and it prevents you from using your Nen and from meeting certain people on the threat of death. Is that correct?"

"Yes," Kuroro said, pleased. "Now, explain how the Jyonen works."

"Of course. It is a relatively simple process. I will draw on the spirits of nature to summon a creature that will feed off the foreign Nen in your body. How it looks like will depend on the foreign Nen that has been put into you. It will feed off the foreign Nen and thus nullify the restrictions the foreign Nen places on you. However, the creature will, in turn, attach itself to you and will not disappear until you fulfill the conditions for removing the foreign Nen." He paused. "Any questions?"

Kuroro rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "So, let me get this straight," he said. "Once this creature starts to swallow the foreign Nen attached to me, I will be able to use my Nen again, and will be able to meet… certain people, without dying. Correct?"

"Yes," Abengane answered. "The downside to my Jyonen is the creature attaching itself to you. Based on how powerful the Nen or how strong the emotion behind the Nen is, the creature could be a massive monster or a tiny creature."

"And there are no other risks?"

"Well, if the caster is dead, my Jyonen wouldn't work on you."

"I see. That shouldn't be an issue. Anything else?"

"No. The process is really quite safe."

"I see," Kuroro said, leaning his chin on his hands. He was silent for a moment as he thought. "Fine," he finally said. "Let's do this."

"Good," Abengane said, pleased. "I will start preparing for the ritual." Getting to his feet, he started to clear an area around Kuroro, kicking debris and dust away. "I'm going to start a fire," he explained, "from the fire, I will summon the creature. While that is happening, everyone, please do not interrupt the ritual. Kuroro, try to remain as still as possible. The spirits of nature must be treated with respect."

"Okay," Kuroro agreed. He glanced at Midoya. She looked almost dead on her feet. When was the last time she had slept, he wondered. While he had caught a nap while wrapped in the cocoon, she had been searching for him and scouting the nest. Then there had been maybe fifteen minutes of napping before they had been forced to rush back to York Shin. That and the way she had exerted herself in exterminating the nest must have drained her entirely. "Go get some rest," he suggested. "I'll wake you up when the exorcism is over."

"Sure," Midoya said, stifling a yawn.

"Ah, wait," Hisoka said suddenly, his face emoting surprise though his eyes gleamed with a cruel pleasure. "I just remembered something."

"What?" Kuroro asked just as Abengane started a fire.

"I already called the Ryodan," Hisoka said cheerfully. "They are on their way here now."

_Hisoka_… "Midoya," Kuroro began, but she was already on her feet.

"Got it," she said. "Call me when you're free or drop by for a visit. I'll be at my penthouse." Kuroro nodded.

"I'm going to start the exorcism now," Abengane said impatiently, ignoring the leaving woman.

"Okay," Kuroro said, watching Midoya leave. Uncharacteristically, he felt a sudden jab of sentimentality. "Goodbye, Midoya. I'll see you soon."

"Bye," she replied as she pulled open the door of the building – to reveal Shalnark, Machi, Phinx, Shizuku, Nobunaga and Feitan standing there.

* * *

><p>The newly arrived Ryodan members froze. Kuroro froze. Hisoka tittered gleefully.<p>

Midoya slammed the door shut again. "Shit," she said mildly and turned to run. She was barely out of range when the door exploded, wooden planks shattering under Phinx's fist as he came storming inside, followed closely by the other Ryodan members.

"What the hell," Phinx said, pressing on his fingers so they cracked loudly. "If it isn't Midoya June Kito."

"Hello," Midoya said politely, but was interrupted when Nobunaga shoved Phinx aside violently.

"Bitch!" Nobunaga roared, drawing his sword.

"Now wait…"

"Shut up!" Nobunaga shouted over Phinx's annoyed protests, his face a mask of hot fury. "You bitch! Did you think we will let you live after you've done such a despicable thing?"

"I have no…"

"Bitch! We heard about it already!" Nobunaga roared again. "How dare you rip out Dancho's manhood with your bare hands and wear them around your neck as a trophy! I am going to kill you for castrating Dancho!" With a furious battle cry, he swung his sword at Midoya.

Kuroro pressed his fingers to his eyes as Nobunaga attacked Midoya. _Not again_! He glanced at the calmer members of the Ryodan, but they were staring coldly at Midoya as she dodged Nobunaga's furious attacks nimbly. Right. Of course. _They_ would be pissed that he… Why were people so obsessed about the existence or not of his manhood? Wasn't his balls his business, and no one else's? This was the first time in a long while Kuroro truly regretted telling a lie.

"Hisoka," he whispered sharply, but Hisoka ignored him, watching the battle with maliciously delighted eyes. Frustrated, Kuroro glanced at the battle as well. Midoya was still doing well against Nobunaga, but she was exhausted and flying on adrenaline while Nobunaga was obviously well-rested. Even if she defeated Nobunaga, there was still the rest of the Ryodan to face. "Hurry," Kuroro said to Abengane.

Abengane made hushing motions and continued chanting. Tensely, Kuroro's eyes darted towards the battle. There was a thin cut on Midoya's arm. He couldn't remember the last time he had seen her bleed. Not good…

"Whore! Stand still and let me cut you to pieces!"

"Forest of the spirits, forest of the spirits," Abengane chanted.

"I don't want to be cut to pieces."

"Forest of the spirits, forest of the spirits…"

"Whore!"

"Enter Kuroro Lucifer and relieve him of the dirty Nen within him…"

"Name-calling works best when it is accurate."

"B…"

Whatever Nobunaga said was lost on Kuroro when the fire in front of him exploded in a sudden burst of massive flames. Startled, Kuroro eyed the fire. There was a shadow in it and it was growing bigger – and bigger… Suddenly something erupted from the fire and launched itself at him.

Taken by surprise, Kuroro toppled over in his seat, almost lifted off his feet by the sudden force against his chest.

"Dancho!" someone shouted in alarm.

Instinctively, Kuroro opened his mouth to reply – and his heart stopped. It was an odd feeling. It didn't hurt and Kuroro's mind didn't cloud over. He was aware that he had almost violated the restrictions placed on him, but hadn't actually done it, so his heart was still intact, just not beating because the chains constricting it had tightened. He was also aware that he wasn't breathing anymore, and that didn't hurt. It was kind of funny, almost like… The next thing he knew, he was lying on the ground, convulsing violently as the Jyonen and the chain-person's Nen flew into conflict.

It was odd. Though he was aware he was _in_ his body, he also had the feeling that he was looking down at his body from a third person's perspective. Through that dual perspective, he became aware that there were two people leaning over him. He felt pressure against his lips and his chest. Dimly, he heard a masculine voice tell someone to complete the exorcism. Suddenly, he felt light-headed and giddy as he became aware that air was being forced down his lungs. It took him a moment to realize that someone was trying to get him to breathe and that it was probably a good idea to start drawing in oxygen on his own.

In a rush of starbursts and nausea, the dual perspective vanished and Kuroro found himself lying on the floor, looking up at Midoya's face hovering over his. "Hi," he croaked weakly. "What are you doing there?"

"Hi back at you, handsome. I was helping you breathe," Midoya replied breathlessly. Her face looked pale and she was breathing hard. "Welcome back. Let's get you up so you can meet your new friend."

"Friend?" Kuroro mumbled woozily. "What friend? Do we have a new Ryodan member? I don't remember inducting one."

"All in good time, Kuroro. Come on, sit up," Midoya coaxed. With a little help from Hisoka, she managed to get him sitting up. When his head flopped downwards as they lifted him, Kuroro finally got a look at his chest.

He blinked in surprise. There was something attached to his chest. It was small, maybe the size of a tennis ball, and round. As he moved, the entire creature wobbled like jelly. It clung to his chest with two tiny seal-like flippers that clutched at his jacket. Kuroro suddenly became aware of a sucking sensation against his chest. "What is that?" he slurred.

At his words, the creature moved. It's entire body rotated and Kuroro got a good look at its face. The face covered the entire underside of the creature, which was pressed to Kuroro's chest. Large, black eyes stared at him from above a… sucker. That was the only word Kuroro could think of to describe the appendage attached to his chest. It looked like the kind of suckers normally found on the tentacles of octopi. The black eyes stared at him as the creature continued to suck. Then with a slight popping sound, the creature detached the sucker from his chest.

"Gah," it sighed, satisfied. Then realizing Kuroro was still staring, it put a flipper in its mouth and sucked it, watching him with large, shy eyes. It was… freakishly cute. If Kuroro had any strength in his limbs, he would have squashed it.

"That," Abengane said solemnly, "is the manifestation of the foreign Nen that was placed on you."

"Oh," Kuroro said, confounded. That was not how he imagined the hatred of the chain-person to look like (he had imagined glaring red eyes, horns and hooves). Then abruptly, his brain function returned and he realized two things. Firstly, he was leaning against Hisoka, who was holding him up (which was disturbing, but not that important – yet). Secondly, _the exorcism_ was complete. He looked around at the Ryodan. There were staring at him and the strange creature nestling at his chest. Well, it was time to test the results of the Jyonen. "Hello Ryodan," he said – and didn't die. Oh. Good. It worked.

"Dancho!" Shalnark exclaimed, delighted.

Suddenly, the Ryodan were crowded around him smiling and pulling him to his feet. Kuroro smiled back, pleased. "Shalnark. Good to see you again," he murmured, clapping Shalnark's shoulder.

"Dancho!" Phinx said, grinning widely. "You look pretty healthy for a half-beaten man."

"I consider myself a half-unbeaten man, Phinx," Kuroro replied, smiling. Phinx laughed at that as Shizuku stepped forward and formally shook Kuroro's hand.

"Nice meeting you, Dancho," she said solemnly.

"Nice meeting you too, Shizuku," Kuroro replied, just as solemnly. Then he turned to the woman standing next to her.

"Machi," Kuroro greeted.

"Dancho," Machi replied, giving a brief nod of her head. For the proud woman, this was one of her greatest expressions of respect. Kuroro returned it. He then turned to the shortest member present.

"Feitan."

"Dancho," Feitan said with a nod of his own. "Good to see you."

"Dancho," Nobunaga said, coming up to him, an odd look on his face. Then to Kuroro's surprise, he put his arms around him and drew him into a fierce hug. Almost immediately, he let go again, looking embarrassed. "Nice to see you," he said awkwardly, coughing.

"Nice to see you too," Kuroro replied and clapped him on the shoulder. That reminded him. He looked around and spotted Midoya standing outside the circle, quietly watching them. "Ah yes, I have yet to introduce you formally."

Immediately, Kuroro sensed the Ryodan closing around him, forming a barrier of hostile Nen against the perceived enemy. Midoya's eyebrow went up as a variety of weapons were drawn and pointed at her. "I suggest you hear what your Dancho has to say first," she said pointedly.

"What is there to say?" Nobunaga snarled bitterly, drawing his sword. "There's nothing more to say other than…"

"That she is my hired help and that she didn't castrate me," Kuroro said wryly. As he was standing in the middle of the group, he could feel the surprise surging through their Nen at his words.

"You _hired_ Midoya June Kito?" Shalnark spluttered, horrified.

At the same time, Phinx asked suspiciously, "She didn't castrate you?"

"Nope, I confirmed it," Hisoka broke in cheerfully.

That brought about another awkward silence as everyone tried to understand what _that _meant. Finally, Kuroro, with a sigh of resignation, said, "Ryodan, this is Midoya June Kito, as I am sure most of you know. I hired her to help me find the Jyonen-user. Since she is on our side, please do not attack her anymore. And no, I am not… I am not castrated at all."

More silence greeted that statement until Shizuku asked, "Midoya June Kito? Who is that?"

* * *

><p>It was good to have Dancho back.<p>

Machi leaned against one of the cracked stone pillars in the building, eyes fixed on Dancho as he spoke quietly with Hisoka and Abengane (the Jyonen-user). Yes, in theory, the Ryodan could function without a Dancho; and yes, in theory, _anyone_ could be Dancho as long as he or she was up for it, but it was… different with Kuroro Lucifer. Just sitting there, he drew the gaze of everyone in the area. Without trying, he had become the centre of the Ryodan. Now that he was back, the Ryodan had a purpose. It was definitely good to have him back.

Sensing her gaze, Dancho's eyes flickered over and he smiled faintly in question. Machi smiled back and said absently, "Just wondering when the rest of the Ryodan will turn up. Those slow-pokes."

"There's no hurry," Dancho replied. "Since we already know where and who the chain-person is, we can attack him anytime we wish. I still need to settle my fight with Hisoka too." Turning away, he continued to speak to Abengane. Apparently they were settling the final payments for his services.

"Tomorrow then," Hisoka purred happily. "I look forward to our fight. Rest well. I wouldn't want you exhausted and not up to the challenge."

"I suggest you worry more about yourself," Dancho replied coolly. "Tomorrow then."

Giggling, Hisoka wriggled his fingers in farewell and walked away. Machi eyed the departing figure bitterly. If she wasn't so certain Dancho would utterly destroy him tomorrow, she would be tempted to go right up to him and stick a needle in his eye.

On that note, about dangerous people… Machi's eyes flicked towards the new face sitting quietly in a corner. That Midoya June Kito… Machi had an instinctive wariness towards that woman. It wasn't that she was emitting a hostile aura; if anything, she looked relaxed, almost half-asleep as she leaned back against the wall, reading something on her lap. It was her… _presence_. Even if she was just sitting there reading a book, that woman felt dangerous. One did not need Machi's formidable sixth sense to feel that; everyone else in the Ryodan periodically glanced in Midoya June Kito's direction suspiciously. Machi half-wished that woman would leave. If Dancho was busy paying off Abengane, why wasn't he paying off this woman as well? Her services were no longer needed, right?

Movement around Dancho drew Machi's attention away. Abengane had climbed to his feet and was shaking Kuroro's hand. "Pleasure working with you," he was saying. "The next time you need a Jyonen-user, just call this number. Standard fees apply."

"Thank you," Dancho said politely. "I will."

Without another word, Abengane left. Machi waited for Dancho to summon the Midoya woman to his side to settle the final payments, but he didn't. Instead, he turned to speak with Shalnark.

Machi fidgeted. Something felt off. Her instincts were telling her something wasn't right. Then, because she was watching, she saw when Dancho and the Midoya woman exchanged glances. Machi sat upright, instincts screaming. Dancho had just _communicated with that Midoya woman with one look_. She had never seen him do that with anyone but a Ryodan member.

"I'm retiring to another room to rest," the Midoya woman said suddenly, getting to her feet. "We'll discuss my payment later, Mr Lucifer."

"Of course," Dancho replied formally. "Have a good rest."

The moment she was out of the room, Machi felt the tension in the room dissipate. Yet, her own anxiety never left her. It wasn't like she could actually pinpoint what was wrong. Dancho had been working with that woman for a while so it shouldn't be surprising that they had gotten good at communicating with each other. Still, that level of… of…

"I still can't believe you hired Blacklist Hunter Midoya," Shalnark said suddenly, drawing Machi's attention. "That took a lot of courage, Dancho. That woman is bad news, even within the Hunter circles. Have you heard what she did to the President of BNE?"

"Oh really?" Dancho asked calmly. "We got along fantastically."

"That's because you are bad news too," Phinx commented half-jokingly. "How on earth did you get her to agree to work with you though?"

Dancho shrugged and replied, "Some carrot, some stick, and a lot of tongue-twisting." The rest of the Ryodan laughed while Machi fidgeted uneasily. Dancho was always hard to read, but it seemed to Machi… it _seemed_ like Dancho had just lied. "Anyway, now that the room is free of outsiders," Dancho went on, "I wish to state our next mission."

Excitement and anticipation flooded the air. Dancho's missions were always _so good_. "What is it?" Feitan asked.

"We are going to hunt down the chain-person," Dancho said, smiling coldly. "He killed Ubo and greatly humiliated us. He must pay for it."

Oh. Oh yes. They haven't told him yet. The room was silent and Machi could tell they were wondering who they should nominate to tell Dancho. As cold as Dancho came across as time, he got so darn sentimental about dead people… Taking a deep breath, Machi bravely said, "Dancho. I have… something to tell you."

"Yes?"

There really was no good way to say it, so Machi said bluntly, "Paku is dead too. She died giving us information about the chain-person."

Dancho looked like someone had socked him in the face. To read Dancho, one does not look at his face; his face was normally empty of most expressions. To read Dancho, one looked at the set of his shoulders and his hands. Right now, Dancho's shoulders were stiff with shock and his hands were clenched together.

"She's dead," Dancho said finally. "She died for the Ryodan."

"Yes," Machi agreed.

"It was a good death," Dancho said solemnly, and that was it. Machi knew Dancho would not mention Paku's death again. "Still, it is one more thing the chain-person must pay for," Dancho went on, his shoulders relaxing and his hands unclenching. "Now, it is our turn to hunt him, on our own terms. I fear he will discover that one does not antagonize the Ryodan and hope to escape the consequences."

"Hell yeah," Phinx muttered as Nobunaga whooped delightedly.

"I want to be the one who kills him!" Nobunaga shouted. "Dancho! Order me to kill him! "

"In good time," Dancho said. "When the rest of the Ryodan get here, we will start planning the attack on the chain-person."

There were murmurs of agreement then Feitan asked, "Shall we kill June Kito too?"

"No," Dancho said immediately. The temperature in the building seemed to drop several degrees. The hair on the back of Machi's neck stood up, and from what she could see, everyone else looked wired up too. "No one is to touch Midoya." Another pause, during which Dancho's fingers tapped against his knee. Then he said, somewhat awkwardly, "Her skills are… unparalleled. She is a very useful ally to have."

"Are you going to induct her as a Ryodan member?" Shalnark asked fearfully.

"Perhaps," Dancho said, and his tone suggested he wished the topic to be dropped _immediately. _

Machi's instincts were howling by now. Something was telling her there was more to this Midoya woman than first meets the eye. She desperately wanted to ask Dancho, if only so she could get rid of that nagging feeling at the back of her mind.

Just when she opened her mouth to ask, somebody came through the doorway of the building.

* * *

><p>When somebody came through the doorway of the building, Kuroro was busy panicking inside. It wasn't yet time to let the Ryodan know about his plans regarding Midoya, but some members were already suspicious. He knew Shalnark definitely was, for very good reason. Machi was suspicious too, though she probably wouldn't be able to say why. He wasn't sure about Phinx and Feitan. The two of them were smart, but they had a tendency to draw the wrong conclusions. Nobunaga was too excited about the upcoming hunt to care about Midoya. Right now, with the Ryodan just climbing back to its feet, there was little room for instability. Letting them know that Midoya June Kito of all people might be entering the Ryodan would not do well for the group dynamics.<p>

Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Machi opening her mouth to speak. Thankfully, before she could, a figure appeared at the doorway. Half-expecting to see the rest of the Ryodan, Kuroro looked up and was surprised to see Midoya there instead.

Instantly, he knew that something was wrong. If her luggage in one hand and her cell phone in the other weren't obvious enough, her red, wet eyes definitely were.

"What is it?" he asked, moving towards her before he realized he was. It was surprising how alarmed he was. It had to be the tears; he had never seen her cry before.

Midoya cleared her throat weakly. "I have to go," she whispered, sounding distraught. "I just got a message from the Hunter's Association. They are asking me to return to the York Shin base." She paused and bit her lip while Kuroro waited. Finally, she said, "Netero is dead." Her voice broke on the last word but no fresh tears emerged.

"Chairman Netero?" Kuroro asked quietly. "He is dead?" He could feel the weight of the Ryodan's eyes on his back. He ignored them.

"He died fighting the King of the ants. The real King, I meant," she replied. "He is… he was my mentor. My nen-master." A look of profound distress swept over her face and for a moment, she looked like she might cry. Kuroro watched her clamp down on her emotions. "As a potential candidate for succeeding his position, the Hunter's Association wants me to return," she said, her voice hoarse. "I need to go now. I'll let you know my answer regarding your… offer another time."

"Okay," Kuroro said, still aware of the weight of eyes on his back. "Give me an account number. I'll send your fee to it."

"Fee?" Midoya asked distractedly.

"For helping me."

"Oh. Right. Forget about it. I want a favour instead." Slowly, she slid her arms around him and pressed her face to his chest. "Don't be a stranger this time," she murmured into his chest. "Keep in contact."

Keep in contact. Well, he had planned to do that anyway. He hadn't been lying when he said she was a useful ally to have. Then he wondered when would be the next time they meet. What with the current plans to hunt down the chain-person and his payment to Hisoka, it was unlikely he would have the chance to visit her. Would he have to wait a month to see her again? Perhaps two? Or an entire year? Abruptly, he realized he was hugging her back, his arms having slipped around her out of habit. The eyes of the Ryodan were almost burning into his back.

Well. In for a penny, in for a pound. He might as well make it very clear now that Midoya was not to be hunted. Kuroro tilted Midoya's head up and gently brushed his lips against hers. He heard Nobunaga gasp something loud and rude which was then followed by a general murmuring of shock and horror. He ignored them. "Deal," he said to Midoya instead. "We'll keep in contact." He smiled at the expression of open astonishment on her face.

"Good," she said after a long pause, a smile on her face. "Thanks for the payment, Mr Lucifer."

"You're welcome, Blacklist Hunter Midoya."

"Well then," Midoya said, stepping out of his arms. "I'll be seeing you around. Goodbye." Then without looking back, she turned and strode out of the building.

Kuroro watched her for a while then turned back to see six pairs of eyes staring straight at him with varying expressions of shock, horror and disbelief. Kuroro sighed. "Okay," he said resignedly. "Who wants to ask first?"

* * *

><p><span>AN: That is the end of this story. I hope everyone enjoyed it! Don't forget to read the next chapter for the preview to the third installment of the Kito series. : ) Yes, that's right! There will be a third installment in the series… hopefully…

Merry Christmas 2011 to everybody! Hope you all have a wonderful time with your family and friends. Be safe and have fun!

Trivia: Kuroro was right to think that the Ryodan members were suspicious of his relationship with Midoya. Within fifteen minutes of his kiss with her, there were bets up and running regarding the _exact details_ of their relationship. So far, there were four camps.

On one side, with Nobunaga being the most prominent voice, were those who believed that Dancho was in 'love' with Kito. On the other side, with Feitan and Phinx as the loudest protestors, were those who felt Dancho was only trying to seduce Kito so he could make use of her, and that believing that Dancho was capable of a weak emotion such as 'love' was an insult to Dancho. The first side, (side A, as Shalnark's highly organized mind classified it) protested loudly that to say Dancho was _not_ capable of a simple, human emotion was itself an insult to Dancho, since surely someone as awesome and as brilliant as Dancho could feel love if he damned well wanted to. On another side, (side C), were those who simply felt that Dancho wanted Kito to join the Ryodan and/or had a relationship with her that was somewhat like what the Ryodan had. Machi was the strongest supporter of this theory. Side A and Side B formed a united front against Side C because firstly, Dancho kissed Kito and no one in the Ryodan would ever dream of smooching another Ryodan member and secondly, Dancho wasn't dumb enough to bring a wild card like Kito into the Ryodan because _everyone_ knew what she did to the President of BNE and the Ryodan didn't need _that_ in the ranks. All the male members in the Ryodan agreed with that. The last side, Side D, consisting of most of the Ryodan members just didn't give a damn either way.

Eventually, in a desperate attempt to stave off the escalating hostilities between the camps, Shalnark had publicly questioned Kuroro on the specifics of his relationship with Midoya.

Putting aside the encyclopedia he had been reading, Kuroro had slowly and patiently explained the concept of 'love' to the Ryodan. Then he had launched into the concept of 'relationship', the sociological theories on them, the metaphysical arguments surrounding them and the psychoanalytical discussions that had centred around the relationship between man and woman. With great zest, he had ended with a deep and thought-provoking question about the dichotomy between the physical body and the intangible definition of 'human'.

The Ryodan had oohed and ahhed then spent many a long hour pondering the questions Kuroro had raised.

It was only two weeks later did they realize Dancho _didn't answer the fucking question at all_.


	13. Preview

A/N: The sequel will be rated M like the rest of the Kito series.

I do not own Hunter X Hunter or any other mentioned literature/books in this story. 

* * *

><p><span>Preview to "A Series of Politically Inappropriate Happenings"<span>

From the moment Kuroro parted with Midoya, his life had entered what he thought of as a 'swirl of escalating frenzied violent activity'. First, there was the Ryodan. Kuroro loved the Ryodan. It had always been his dream, since he was a young teen staring at the rest of his life with large, uncertain eyes, to have a group of friends who will murder people he didn't like and steal things that he wanted. To have it come true was amazing, wonderful and everything Kuroro had ever wished for. However, at the same time, the downside of having a group that only moves when you give the orders is that when you _aren't_ around to give the orders, things kind of… fall… apart.

Take for example, the disadvantages of having Feitan as temporary Dancho.

"What is this?" Kuroro had demanded the moment he had returned to their base in York Shin. 'This' referred to the dead bodies littering the floor of the base. Even at first glance, Kuroro could tell they had been left there deliberately. If the way each and every corpse spotted the exact same set of mutilations wasn't a clue, the bodies' arrangements in the shape of a spider most certainly was.

"It was our temporary Dancho's orders," Phinx replied casually. "He felt that the reason why the little boys we took hostage weren't afraid of us is because our base doesn't look scary enough. So he figured having dead, mutilated corpses around would scare our future prisoners or hostages into submission. Why do you ask, Dancho? Is there a problem?"

"Yes," Kuroro had replied, holding his nose and staring in horror at the thick, smoky clouds of flies. "Yes, there is a… problem."

As if that (and planning the subsequent moves against the chain-person) wasn't enough, there was Hisoka to contend with. The fight, which eventually took place on the plains of the same desert the chain-person had spitefully left him defenceless on, had been long, tedious and very disturbing. Even now, Kuroro did not like thinking about the details of the fight for long. Suffice to say it was challenging, sexually inappropriate and came really close to leaving Kuroro mutilated, violated and dead, probably not in that order. By the end of the seventy-two hours the fight had lasted, Kuroro had been hanging on by the tips of his fingers and thankful that Hisoka had finally ran out of steam, enough so that even though neither of them were dead, Hisoka was satisfied enough to leave it at that.

"I'm a little stressed, don't you think?" he commented nonchalantly to Shalnark.

He watched Shalnark look at his face and then at the book that he had torn to tatters in his hands (a cheap brainless novel that deserved to be destroyed). "Absolutely," Shalnark replied smiling nervously. "Would you like a massage?"

Recently, Shalnark had read in a science journal that regular massages helped reduce stress in an individual, and made the individual easier to get along with. He had, subsequently, started offering massages to anyone who would take it in an attempt to keep the Ryodan members off each other's throat during Kuroro's absence. So far, only Nobunaga had taken him up on the offer, and as far as Kuroro could tell, he was still the same old _violent_ person. "No thank you," Kuroro told Shalnark as kindly as he could in his present state of mind.

"Are you sure, Dancho? I think I've gotten pretty good with the pressure point technique. Nobu swore I cured the arthritis in his knee."

Kuroro glanced over at Shalnark, taking in the bright, shining eyes of a young man eager to dig his fingers into his boss's assumedly stiff and unyielding muscles, and decided that sometimes, being with the Ryodan for too long a period of time wasn't a really that good a thing after all.

So, five weeks after finally returning to the Ryodan, Kuroro found himself climbing up the side of the building to Midoya's penthouse in a bid to escape the Ryodan.

As he paused on the ledge just below Midoya's penthouse, he idly wondered if he should have called beforehand. He wasn't even sure she was in, or whether she would mind if he let himself in. Then, he remembered that he couldn't remember the last time Midoya had been unwelcoming to anybody climbing into her window. Reassured, Kuroro gripped the ledge of Midoya's window and vaulted over.

The next thing he knew, he was plummeting down the side of a fifty-storey building with a snarling woman glowing with Nen and wielding a bloodied machete attached to his chest.

* * *

><p><span>AN: And there it is! The preview to the next instalment of the Kito Series, which should be up sometime early next year. I am very thankful to all my readers and reviewers, and am really glad to know people enjoy my stories. I look forward to hearing from all of you soon!

Love

Lunartick xx


End file.
